


Convalescence

by Austadophilus



Category: RWBY
Genre: After Salem's defeat, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Cinder Fall Redemption, Cinder Jaune and Pyrrha are in a poly relationship, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Other, Polyamory, Pyre Theory, Pyrrha Nikos shares Cinder's soul due to Maiden Powers, Redemption
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:55:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 24,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23059606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Austadophilus/pseuds/Austadophilus
Summary: Now that Salem has been sealed away, Cinder is working to redeem herself and to heal from her past. With Jaune’s help, she’s managed to change her ways and become the new Protector of Argus with Pyrrha by her side as the partner who shares her body. However, healing takes time and how can Cinder focus on peace when the past keeps rearing its ugly head?
Relationships: Cinder Fall/Pyrrha Nikos, Jaune Arc/Cinder Fall, Jaune Arc/Cinder Fall/Pyrrha Nikos, Jaune Arc/Pyrrha Nikos
Comments: 23
Kudos: 97





	1. The WorkShop

**Chapter One**

**The Workshop**

“This place has really changed,” Cinder said as she strolled at a docile pace along the streets of Mantle. **  
**

And she was not wrong. For one thing, there was no Atlas to look up to in the sky any longer. The sun shimmered down on the clean streets of the city and the air held the laughter of children running around and the bustling chatter of the marketplace. There was still a lot of work to do with distributing all of Atlas’s resources and integrating it throughout a city that was once falling apart, but it had come such a long way under Councilwoman Hill’s wing. 

Even Cinder wanted to take the scenic route to Pietro’s workshop, stopping every so often to look at new street vendors and food stands. 

It had been over a year since Cinder had begun this path. The path to healing. A year since she had unofficially declared herself the Protector of Argus. After Salem had been sealed away, the Fall Maiden had wanted to fall off the face of the world but Jaune Arc was forever the chain that kept her from slipping away. He took her in, cared for her, lifted her up…until Cinder had felt something consistent to warmth for him in return. 

Love made time fly by fast. Was it just the feelings of Pyrrha that had rubbed off on her? Cinder certainly liked to pretend it was so when it came to that blonde idiot, but as soon as she laid eyes on that goofy smile, she knew that was a lie. 

Her thoughts held Jaune fondly as she turned to some of the booths on the street. If Jaune so happened to find a gift on the table when she returned home to Argus, maybe he would make her some pork vindaloo later…

 _“You’re certainly taking your time,”_ the soothing voice in her mind chided. _“I thought you wanted to get in and out of Mantle.”_

Cinder rolled her eye. “Once we get to the workshop, then yes, I’ll want to make things quick. But out here…” She glanced over at a booth overloaded with orange flowers and pink roses. “It’s really not so bad." 

_"Is that a bit of warmth I detect?”_ Pyrrha let out a soft chuckle. _“Do you like flowers, Cinder?"_

Cinder shook her head. "Not particularly. I suppose I’m just impressed by their growth in this type of climate. Maybe it’s just artificial." 

She placed her lone hand on her hip. For a moment, her golden gaze tilted to the left stump of her arm. It had been only a few years since the removal of her monstrous limb that had been eating away at her aura and fear. She mindlessly touched the bandages and then narrowed her eyes back at the flowers. Whatever made these plants grow… was it something similar that made the Grimm go hungry on her? 

Pyrrha could feel her unease. _"The Grimm arm is gone,”_ her voice echoed through Cinder’s mind. _“It can’t grow back."_

"You say that now but-” Cinder started but she was cut off by a child standing beside her. The little boy reached up to tug at the red sash tucked under the belt at her waist. Cinder knelt to the child’s height, prompted by Pyrrha’s immediate warning to be kinder and more accessible. 

Cinder looked at the grey-haired child. “Yes?” Creepy. The child kind of looked like what she would expect Mercury to if he were a kid. 

The child glanced around as if unsure, then timidly spoke up. “Why are you talking to yourself?" 

_"Cinder…”_ Pyrrha started, already sensing the biting, mischievous spirit rising up in her host. 

But it was too late. “Oh?” A smirk pulled at Cinder’s lips. “Well you see, I’m crazy and unhinged. That’s why I talk to myself.” Fire spurted out of the corner of her eye as those words exited her lips.

The child flinched and stepped back immediately. Cinder stood back up, putting her nose up in the air to Pyrrha’s protests within her. She expected the child to scram, but they appeared too timid to run off. 

“You’re crazy?” The child challenged. 

“Yes. I never know when it happens,” Cinder said, leaning against the wall. If nothing else, this was amusing. “Sometimes I just black out and…" 

The child interrupted her, turning their attention to Cinder’s stump. "W-What happened to your arm?" 

_"Cinder-!”_ Pyrrha tried to interject, but Cinder remained in control.

Cinder’s smile widened. “Oh, that? I ate it. Bit by bit. Cooked and ate it.” The child went sheet white. “Oh, don’t give me that look. I told you. I’m crazy…” She flashed the child another cheeky grin, then strode off without another word. She could hear the child break into a run, probably to look for its mother and cry about the tall tale of partial cannibalism. 

_“I’m glad you’re gaining more of a sense of humor,”_ Pyrrha said, her voice only vaguely encouraging. “If a bit morbid… was that really necessary?" 

Cinder shrugged as they neared the workshop, looking back for a moment. "Hmmm… it put the flowers out of my mind well enough,” she said, her voice now light and content. 

— 

“Salutations, Miss Fall!” The robot burst through the doors of her father’s patient room to greet Cinder, floating just before her on her rocket propelled heels. She joyfully flipped her long hair back and smiled at her client. 

Penny dropped to her feet and gave a curtsey. “And to you too, Miss Nikos.” She stared at Cinder with wide-eyed interest, a little shake in her head as she did so. 

Cinder gritted her teeth and inwardly tried to decide what she hated more: the fact that this girl was the Winter Maiden or her unending enthusiasm that shone brighter than a thousand suns. For now, she pinned it on being the latter that she despised. 

“Pyrrha,” she said, not caring if it was out loud. “Switch with me. She’s your friend, so you two can have some time together-”

 _“Ah, ah, ah,”_ Pyrrha tutted. _“What did we talk about?"_

Cinder inwardly pushed back against Pyrrha’s command to try and force her soul out instead of hers, but all she experienced was a mental slap that sent her back to the forefront of her own mind. 

"Pyrrha…” Cinder cursed under her breath, turning back to Penny. She inhaled silently and then sighed, trying to maintain eye contact. “Penny Polendina. I am very sorry for the trouble I caused you. I realize that my actions have caused you significant harm, that I even once referred to you as nothing but a toy and a puppet." 

She took a step forward, a bit of pink slightly rising to her cheeks. This was so embarrassing, but Pyrrha was never going to let it go if she didn’t get it over with. 

"I can’t change the person I was back then, but I will work hard to be a better person. And the first step to that is recognizing that you are a person too.” Cinder tried to swallow her pride, pushing her shame down. Apologizing is always the worst part but somehow, she always came out of it feeling sort of… rested and restored. 

“Here.” Without asking, Cinder took Penny’s hand and placed a decorative glass bow. It was skillfully shaped and molded, each corner bursting with tiny red rubies that shimmered as bright as Penny’s eyes. “This is for you." 

Penny gasped, lifting the bow within her gloved hands. Cinder almost immediately reached for it back, worried that it would shatter immediately in Penny’s hands. 

"It's… It’s lovely!” Penny cheered, jumping up. “Look at how it shimmers in the light!” She bounced back down, holding it above her head to observe the bow sparkling in each different corner. 

Pyrrha’s voice chimed in. _“Yes, especially since I did not ask her to bring any sort of gift."_

Cinder snorted. "Please. It took five minutes to put together on the airship.” Her arm touched her stump again as she averted her gaze from the ecstatic Winter Maiden. 

_“Oh and rubies are easy to come by, are they?”_ Pyrrha gleefully teased back. 

“Shut up." 

Penny prodded Cinder’s shoulder and then pointed to her head. "Do I attach it to my other bow? I don’t see anywhere to clip on." 

Cinder shook her head. "No, not really. It’s just a trinket. Something for the office, you know? I figured it was better that way since it looks like your bow is where your power is focused.” She placed a hand on her hip, looking over her work in Penny’s hands. “However, if you give me a bit of time, I could fashion it into a necklace." 

A gaudy necklace, but it would be Penny’s choice. Penny shook her head and placed the little bow beside the Number One Dad mug on the desk.

"Not too worry, Miss Fall. I think it looks perfect right here!” Penny nodded, putting her arms behind her back. “Thank you." 

"Right… Cinder is fine, Penny,” said the Fall Maiden, her voice trailing a bit. Why couldn’t Pyrrha just switch with her and talk to this… machine turned person herself? This was a bit too awkward for Cinder’s liking. It was best to change the subject. “Sorry. I don’t mean to move things along but Jaune told me to come by because he said you wanted to give me something?" 

Penny stared at her for a moment, then her eyes lit up again after it appeared she was trying to remember something. "That’s right! I am sorry as I forgot due to your wonderful gift!” She tugged on Cinder’s lone arm, marching her to the back of the office. “I have a gift for you too, Cinder Fall!" 

"Cinder is fine-wait, what?” Cinder blinked. 

The back room seemed to be a patient room. There was a chair in the center with a working observation light. A few shelves full of academic books lined the walls, complete with a wooden whale sculpture. Penny led Cinder over to the chair, urging her to settle down where she was comfortable by another desk. 

Before Cinder could rise back up to question anything, Penny giggled and put her arms up to placate the impatient Maiden. “Just a moment, Cinder Fall. I will be right back with your amazing gift. Please make yourself at home!” She saluted Cinder, then fired her jets to blast through the double doors of the office again. 

“I really don’t like her,” Cinder said after a moment. 

_“Right,”_ Pyrrha responded. Cinder could make out her form across the room, leaning against one of the office support beams. _“I remember that you make gifts for people you don’t like."_

"Pft. I was being nice." 

Pyrrha gave her eyes a roll, her shoulders lifting slightly. What was she going to do with such a stubborn woman? _"I see. So you feel Penny is worth the effort of being nice to?"_

Cinder huffed, narrowing her eye at the desk beside her. Beside a few stacks of paper and smaller tools rested a picture of a large, dark man who had one of the biggest smiles Cinder had ever seen. He was situated in a big chair, leaning to his left side as if he were gazing out the window. Beside his chair was Penny, her arms linked with his right arm, beaming at him with love and adoration. 

Holding the picture in her gaze, Cinder felt as though she had seen the man somewhere before. It must be Penny’s creator and from what she heard from Jaune, he had sadly passed away during a battle. Apparently he deleted his aura to revive Penny for one last time. Well, Cinder mused, Maidens certainly weren’t immortal, so it all made sense as sad as it was. 

"This man looks… very gentle,” Cinder said, leaning on her lone arm against the desk. For some reason, she didn’t want to look away from the picture. Something about its happiness intrigued her. Was it the man’s smile? Penny’s? “Jaune said he died to revive her. He must have given his little girl everything." 

Pyrrha wandered over or maybe Cinder’s mind projected her wandering over. Cinder wasn’t sure how it worked since she was the only one who would be able to see Pyrrha beside her. _"He seems like a nice man,”_ she added to the conversation. _“Penny was very lucky. It makes me want to visit my mother."_

Cinder nodded. Well… she would make a note of that later. Maybe surprise Pyrrha by checking on her mother later in Argus. But she continued to stare at the picture. 

"Imagine being the sort of father who would do anything for his daughter,” said Cinder, her mind turning back to something rather unpleasant. She broke her gaze from the photo and sighed, leaning forward. 

Maybe Pyrrha could imagine that sort of parent, but Cinder didn’t know if she could. And she didn’t want to search her memories for a moment when she felt the same amount of affection for any of her caregivers… except… 

A brief flash of blackened cloaks with crimson lining shot through her mind. She imagined Salem’s full lips, her red eyes when they would rest upon Cinder during their training sessions, those hands covered in snake-like veins all down her arms. A shudder ran through Cinder’s body. Just as Pyrrha could visit her mother, could Cinder possibly…?

Pyrrha sensed her thoughts. _“Cinder, she’s gone. She can’t find you. She won’t find you."_

Cinder opened her eye after a moment of wandering through a haze of feelings towards her old Master. They were such a mixture that Cinder didn’t know what to make of them. Was it fear or longing? She would tense but her thoughts swam with remembering the sensation of Salem’s long fingers combing through her hair. Her mind would repulse her as the memories of Salem’s arms wrapping around her after a particularly bad training session that nearly broke her spirit. Those arms… they were warm. Inviting. There were times where Cinder wanted to falter inside Salem’s grasp and just give into whatever Salem molded her to be. 

It all felt too easy back them, especially with the Grimm arm. 

"Sometimes,” Cinder began. A part of her didn’t know where she was going with this. “Sometimes I swear I can still feel her. I know it’s only the memories, but-" 

Pyrrha lifted her head to listen, but Cinder was cut off by Penny bursting back into the room with a large, rectangular gold and red box inside her arms. 

"Here we go!” She called brightly, landing next to Cinder’s chair. “Surprise!!!! For you, Cinder Fall! And Miss Nikos when she operates your body!" 

Cinder blinked again, staring at the shimmering package. "Oh… er… thank you?” She scooped up the package in her arm and settled it on the desk to unbox. “It’s pretty hefty." 

Penny bounced anxiously behind her. "Open it! I know you are going to be 100 percent satisfied. And then we can hug and then cheer and then celebrate!" 

‘None of those things are going to happen,’ Cinder inwardly said before Pyrrha could pipe up. Pyrrha gave a small scoff as Cinder set to unwrapping the shiny present that Penny forced upon her. Once the paper was carefully unpackaged, she opened the box only to gape at what was inside. 

“Isn’t it wonderful?” Penny leaned beside Cinder as the Fall Maiden bathed in silence, staring at the gift. “I’ve been practicing my father’s craft and yours is the very first I have ever constructed!” 

An arm. It was a prosthetic arm. The gold and red finish glinted from the massive overhead lights in the workshop. 

Cinder swallowed. A bead of sweat trickled down the back of her neck. When she closed her eye, she was in a different place. A darker place. Penny wasn’t behind her. Instead a ghostly pale woman leaned over her, her long fingers against Cinder’s chest to reassure Cinder’s frantic heartbeat. 

_“It’s a gift, Cinder. Just for you. Your new arm.”_


	2. Monster Arm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cinder wasn't expecting to get a new arm that day, but she is all for it if it means she can pursue her goals. Or at least, she thought she was.

"Thank you," Oscar said with a smile. He gave the booth operator a few lien and took the orange and yellow flowers into his arms. They weren't the most romantic colors, but something about them in the sunlight drew the young farm boy to them. 

Jaune was waiting for him back in the marketplace center, giving him a wave as soon as he approached. After Ozpin had moved on into the afterlife, the blonde saw it as his duty to watch over his younger friend. He owed it to Ozpin. 

"Sorry about the wait." Oscar took off side by side with his blond companion, heading down the northern street of Mantle. It was a sunny day and the marketplace was bustling more than usual. A grand change from the days of Ironwood's controlling grip on the Capital. 

Jaune shrugged. "What are the flowers for?" 

Oscar didn't bother to skirt around the question. It would be too obvious. "Oh… you know, Ruby. You never know when she's going to show up around here, but I have a pretty good feeling…" He could help but to smile as some warmth rose to his freckled cheeks. 

Jaune gave a laugh. "Yeah, that's fair. I could totally see Ruby wanting to visit soon. She might even want to check up on Cinder and all the progress she's made." He beamed, projecting a sense of pride. 

In just a year or so, Cinder had turned everything around. It wasn't easy but she was adjusting to Argus life well enough. She helped wherever she could, learned to open up, attended therapy sessions, and even protected the citizens when Grimm flocked to the city. She even met and became friends with Jaune's older sister and her wife… and a disastrous figure to their child sometimes. 

Jaune was proud of Cinder. There was no way about it. Sometimes he would lay back and wonder how things came to be. There was a moment in the distant past when Jaune remembered his rage towards her, the nights he dreamed of finding her and making her pay for everything she did. For Pyrrha. For Beacon. For the nightmares and the unending nights of tears and pain. 

And then, when Cinder had collapsed into his arms, it was the easiest thing in the world to just hold her. She needed his help. And he was a huntsman… there was nothing in the world more valuable than the moment she reminded him of that. This was what he was meant to do. 

Now Cinder was a new person. Not different in a sense, but one working towards a better future. And Jaune had fallen for that person over and over again. She had Pyrrha's soul and strength and Pyrrha had her body and resolve. Both women were the beacon of light Jaune was always running towards. 

"Thanks for coming with me to the marketplace," said Oscar, interrupting Jaune from his romantic line of thoughts. "I'm still not used to Mantle. Ironwood never really let me go down to the city so long as I had the Relic of Knowledge." 

Jaune grinned, putting his arms behind his back as he walked. "No sweat! This place is easy for getting lost in. I was gonna surprise Cinder and pick her and Pyrrha up from their appointment with Penny anyways." 

Oscar blinked, looking up at him. "Appointment? Is Penny a doctor or something?" 

Jaune rubbed the back of his head. "Not exactly. She just sometimes helps with her father's line of work to keep his memory alive. You know how it is…" 

"Oh… right." Oscar's voice held a significantly more serious note within it. "I get it." 

Pietro truly was a great man. His work deserved a legacy and Penny had the heart to take it there. 

After a moment of silence, Oscar continued. "So Cinder has an appointment with Penny for…?" 

"Oh! Well… okay, check this out," Jaune said excitedly, hurrying in front of his friend. "I talked to Cinder and figured out that one thing she really used to like was archery, but now she really can't manage it with the lack of her arm and stuff. So, I actually set her up with Penny to get a prosthetic just like the one Yang has. Even had hers and Pyrrha's favorite colors customized!" 

"Woah, really?!" 

Jaune nodded. "Yup! I'll help her out and we'll get her back into archery. I think it'll be good for her. And it'll be good for her and Pyrrha. An outlet. She works hard but…" He let out a sigh. "She works too hard. They're both so serious and determined. It's the hardest thing to just pull them away for a movie or something." 

Oscar laughed. "So… you're just gonna push them towards something that has more combat?" 

"Hey! Cinder said she found archery fun! And Pyrrha happens to see spear tossing as a sport. This is something they both can share!" Jaune insisted after a moment of waving his arms to get his point across. Crap. He hadn't thought about archery just being another thing to capture Cinder's and Pyrrha's rapt attention for discipline. But if it was something they could connect over, it had to be good, right? 

"Well," said Oscar with a shrug, "it's nice to hear that Cinder's finally in a comfortable enough place to go through the procedure." 

"Yeah…" Jaune let his voice trail off, smiling. Cinder had come so far… wait what? He paused. "Uh… Oscar, what do you mean by that?" 

"Mean by what?" 

"You know… why wouldn't Cinder be comfortable with this procedure?" 

Oscar shot Jaune a look of pure disbelief, as if asking with his eyes if the older huntsman was actually serious. "You know. Because it's a rough procedure." 

Jaune stopped in his tracks. "...How rough?" 

Discomfort flashed onto Oscar's face. "W-What?! How do you not know this!?" He rubbed his temples, swallowing for a moment as soon as he caught the dumbfounded look on Jaune's face. "Ozpin once told me that General Ironwood had to physically fuse the wiring of his prosthetic arm to his own nerves. Logically that's what Cinder's going to get done with Penny!" 

Jaune grew flustered, fear filling his gaze as he connected the dots. "No, b...but that was just the old way of doing things! Yang can just remove her arm-" 

"Yang wasn't injured like Cinder, right?" Oscar sharply interjected. "Cinder had her entire arm amputated!" He shook his head, clutching his flowers to his chest. "Jaune… Cinder is going to that appointment to get that procedure done. Do you know how painful it is to get your nerves fused into wires? Because Oz told me." 

"Oh no… oh no, oh no!" Jaune gripped the side of his head, staggering a bit. "Cinder…" The pained expression of his lover shot through his mind, her cries already filling his ears even on a crowded street. He didn't mean to do this to her! He had to stop that appointment! 

Robotically, Jaune stood upright and put out a hand to stop Oscar from stepping forward. Oscar only just glanced up at his pale-faced friend when Jaune suddenly seized the flowers right out of his small hands. 

"Hey!!!" Oscar called as Jaune sprinted in a panic down the street. "Those are mine!!!" 

"I need them more! I NEED THEM MORE!" Jaune cried out, running at a breakneck speed for Pietro's old office. 'Cinder… I'm so, so sorry!!!' His mind spun the words over and over again, flooding his head with as many apologies as he could think of. None of them mattered. None of them would do anything until he found her.

What was he going to do? How was he ever going to make this up to her?

\--

"There we are. Now you just take your seat, Cinder Fall, and we will get you started!" Penny said, urging Cinder back into the chair. 

Cinder gave no protest, laying her back against the cushion. "I don't… what is this?" Her body have a slight tremble, one she desperately tried to hide. 

Penny blinked. "Your new arm. I just said so." She peered at Cinder, concerned. "Are you alright? You're going pale. Are you sick?" 

Cinder shook her head, her long fringe drooping over most of her face. In a sense, she wanted to hide. "No. It's just… I suppose I was not expecting this." A quick check with Pyrrha noted that her partner certainly wasn't aware of it either. 

"Oh," said Penny simply. "That's because it is a surprise! Your partner scheduled this appointment because he would like to reunite you with your love for archery." She gave a thoughtful look, brushing her fingers to her chin. "At least, I believe that is what he said." 

"Of course he did," said Cinder in slight dismay. 

Across the room, Pyrrha's projected form quickly waved her arm. _"Now, now… we know he meant well."_ She said with a short laugh. 

Cinder scoffed, leaning on the chair. "Oh, doesn't he always?" As far as she was concerned, this was a bit further than a general surprise. 

Penny continued to set the arm up on stirrups to align with Cinder's amputated shoulder. "Mhmmm hmm, right about here." She seized Cinder by her opposite shoulder and squished her against the prosthetic. "Alright, Jaune Arc managed to get your measurements just about right. There is very little to adjust." 

The cold metal brushed against the exposed flesh of Cinder's shoulder, drawing a small wince from her. It was strange. Another foreign feeling. It wasn't a pleasant sensation but it didn't feel like a certain other arm she had experienced before. 'Good. It's clearly not a monster arm.' Her mind seemed to laugh at her. One look to Pyrrha told her that the red-headed warrior sensed that sensation. She nodded to Cinder, smiling a bit as a way to reassure her partner that she was indeed taking this better than expected. 

Cinder drew in a breath, looking at the shimmering crimson plating of her new left arm. This… This was going to be okay. She could handle this. 

_"You've come so far…"_ Pyrrha cooed at her, returning to her side in Cinder's mind. _"Let's just take this slowly and we'll handle it together."_

"Oh, please," Cinder snorted. "I am not a child." But nevertheless, Pyrrha could probably sense the heated feelings rising to the surface of her lover's soul, prompting her to wave off Cinder's petulant denials. 

"And here we go." 

Cinder barely heard Penny's voice when a sudden prick invading the skin of her left shoulder had her shoot straight up. She glanced to her side to notice Penny with a syringe between her fingers, carefully watching the liquid drain from the glass and into Cinder's body. 

"What are you-?!" Cinder mouthed to her, her cheeks flushing. 

Penny said something. Cinder was sure she said something, but her vision was starting to fuzz. The girl's fiery red hair was all she could make out in a big blur as Cinder's head fell back against the seat cushion. Another voice called out to her. Pyrrha's. It was louder in her mind and Cinder got the sense that it was urging her to stay calm. 

_"Relax,"_ Pyrrha said. _"You're going under."_

Cinder nodded but she couldn't move. Was this a paralysis? Why couldn't she move?! 

_"Relax…"_

Cinder opened her mouth to respond, but everything felt sluggish. Her muscles tensed, but nothing would come of it. Something felt like it was clamping her mouth tightly shut. Why couldn't she cry out?! 

_"Relax…"_

She was relaxing! She was relaxing! Why couldn't Pyrrha hear her? Cinder wanted to tear away from the chair but a vicious grip held her there. 

Maybe she wasn't relaxing. No part of Cinder wanted to relax. This was wrong. She wanted to cry and pull away but the grip held her steady. Why couldn't she cry? They were hurting her! Every time she pulled, the hand sank into her shoulder tighter. 

_"Don't fight it, girl."_

Cinder froze, her resistance faltering. No…

No… Cinder wanted to miserably shout. It hurts. It's miserable. As soon as the black tendrils of the limb swerved around her wounded limb, she felt a white hot pain shoot through her entire body. Horrific images passed through Cinder's mind, nightmarish, abstract and ghastly. Her mind couldn't comprehend them. She didn't want to know them. 

"NO!!!" Cinder shrieked, finally rolling onto the dungeon floor. Her entire body was shaking. Hot tears leaked from her lone eye as it shakily glanced upwards. 

Glowering down at her with those blood red eyes was her former master, Salem. Her gaze was stern, but notably patient. The barest hint of a sigh escaped her lips as she knelt down beside Cinder. 

Cinder squealed, but no noise rose from her lips again. She panted and buried her face in her good hand, unable to look at Salem. 

_"Get up, Cinder."_ Salem ordered. _"We aren't done."_

Cinder, almost immediately, shook her head. No. She wouldn't. She couldn't move. She wanted this arm off of her. She didn't want it. 

_"Cinder…"_

No… 

_"Cinder, get up."_

_No!_ Cinder shut her eye tightly, trying to push that commanding voice from her head. 

_"Are you still a child, Cinder?"_ Salem's voice patiently suggested. _"Is that what you are? A powerless child?"_

Cinder dramatically shook her head. 

_"Really? And yet, you act like one. A victim on the ground, refusing your medicine. You're of no use to me like this."_

Cinder opened her eye, straining to glance up at Salem. She clutched her chest with her good arm as though she had been mortally wounded. 

Salem looked down at her crossly, appearing to tut at the young woman on the floor. _"I give you what you need to become powerful and this is how you react. It's disappointing but expected. You fight me at every turn, Cinder, but where will you go? Will you just accept anyone who will have you? Scrape away against this cruel world?"_

Cinder paused. Then she shook her head. The monstrous limb attached to her stopped throbbing on her wounded arm, instead now quietly lurching up her flesh. It felt insane and dark, every worst and nauseating experience driving through Cinder's body and soul at once. She felt dizzy, almost like she was going to throw up on the floor. 

She didn't want this. Salem had let the monster consume her as she slept in recovery. A gift, she called it. But now… 

But some part of her mind rebelled. "I don't want it…" This wasn't right. This had happened before. It was like Cinder was outside of herself, looking in on something from the past, something she could stop and break away from. 

"What?" Salem's voice grew distance and somehow louder all at the same time. 

"I don't want it. I never wanted it!" 

Salem opened her mouth to say something but no voice came out. Cinder realized it was time to push back. 

_"I DON'T WANT IT!!!"_ She shrieked, taking the Grimm arm between the fingers of her normal hand and tearing it off. 

The pain was unbearable, searing through every inch of her body. The tendril wrapped around her body, trying to keep her in its dark grasp. They clung to her face, smearing it back against the darkness. 

_"NO!!!!"_

Cinder shut her eye as the blackened tendril slipped around her head and-

"Please… don't." 

Cinder's eye shot open. She was on the ground, back in Pietro's lab. Everything was torn apart. The chair behind her had its cushions completely shredded. A glint to her side showed the new gold and red arm was flung straight across the room. And beneath her legs, pinned to the floor underneath Cinder was Penny Polendina. 

And a sword with a greenish lining was pointing right at Cinder's head. 

Cinder panted, noticing her hand was on Penny's shoulder, holding her to the ground. Trembling, she pulled her hand away and swept off of Penny immediately. 

"...I… I can't breathe…" Cinder sputtered on the ground. 

Penny scrambled to dust herself off and rose to her feet. "Are you having a seizure? Please! I can help you." And she looked ready to. 

Cinder shuddered, shaking her head frantically. "P...PYRRHA!" She cried out desperately, slamming her fist into the ground. 

A gentle light eclipsed around her body, driving Penny away from laying a finger on her. Cinder opened her golden-green eye and went quiet for a moment. She took a deep breath and stood up. Her body was still quivering slightly as she turned to Penny. In a softened voice distant from Cinder's own, she said calmly,

_"Penny. This is very important. Do you have a room for me to securely shut myself into?"_

Penny nodded, taking a step back. "There is a supply closet down the hall." 

Pyrrha bowed Cinder's head, stepping past her. "Thank you." 

Penny watched Cinder's body rigidly march down the hall as per her directions, feel around for the door handle and then shut herself into a supply closet. A click told the Winter Maiden that her Fall counterpart had just locked herself in there. "Oh my…"

\--

_"You did very well."_ Pyrrha gently said, trying to raise Cinder's spirits a bit. 

It had been a good half an hour since Pyrrha had shut both of them in the closet. Cinder, exhausted emotionally and physically, had retired on a giant wooden crate. After a few minutes, she had regained control of her breathing. Isolation and quiet did wonders for that. 

But still, something about it all felt so shameful. 

"No… No I didn't," Cinder said, narrowing her eye. 

_"What do you mean?"_

"I'm supposed to be better by now!" Cinder drove her fist into the wall beside her, barely wincing at the painful blowback. "I'm supposed to be better than this at least…" She sighed, then drew her knees into her chest so she could hide her face. 

_"Cinder…"_ Pyrrha started, but Cinder cut her off. 

"It's just an arm!!!" In a sense, Cinder could feel Pyrrha's presence almost flinch inside her at the raise of her voice. The Fall Maiden tensed, then exhaled again. "Why can't I do it? If I could just take that arm, I could do so much. That's why Jaune set me up here." 

Pyrrha's projected form sat beside her, her head resting weightlessly upon Cinder's shoulder. Only Cinder could feel those fingertips pressing into the small of her back, but nevertheless, that was what mattered. Only she could hear Pyrrha like this, but Cinder wouldn't want it any other way. 

_"Cinder, you weren't ready. And you didn't want that arm."_

"Yes, I do!" Cinder protested. Pyrrha raised her arm and Cinder silenced again. 

_"No… you didn't. And you rejected it. You were scared and you tore it off before you went through something you clearly never wanted,"_ Pyrrha explained, shaking her head. 

Cinder made a disapproving noise, but before she could turn away, Pyrrha jumped in front of her face and spread her arms out. 

_"When are you going to realize you have a choice?"_ Pyrrha demanded, narrowing her green orbs at Cinder. Her voice lost its softness, replacing it for a stern tone. _"You may have goals, but you don't get to force your body and your heart into things before it's ready."_

Cinder gritted her teeth, fire erupting from her eye. "You are not my damn mother!" 

_"Stop rushing! Whatever you need that arm for, it's not going to happen! Not now, not as you are!"_

"I DON'T WANT TO STAY IN ARGUS FOREVER!" Cinder finally spat out, driving a flaming fist straight through Pyrrha's form. To Cinder's lack of surprise, it simply went through her body and connected with another metal barrel. The barrel held firm, simply rolling over and clattering to the floor. 

Cinder growled, letting the flames dissipate. She dropped to her knees and after a moment, her rage-filled face twisted into a look of pure shame. 

Pyrrha knelt beside her. " _I know. I know you want to leave."_ She said, more gently once again. 

"I…" Cinder reddened. "I'm sorry." 

_"It's alright."_ Her partner responded lightly. Pyrrha was about to stand back up when the light from the ceiling shone off a single tear sliding down Cinder's face. "Cinder…?" 

Cinder furiously rubbed the uninjured side of her face. "I don't understand!!! How did I become this person?" She quivered. "Back then, I could take anything Salem threw at me! Grimm injections. Multiple days of training with no rest. Anything…and now…" 

Pyrrha smiled feebly, rubbing Cinder's back. _"You took all that and never stopped to question whether or not you should. Now your body knows better. Now you know you have a choice."_

Cinder opened her eye, glancing back up. "I want to go back out into the world. I want to find another place… somewhere I can start over." 

_"And you will,"_ interjected Pyrrha. _"Our dreams will come true. But do you really think they have to come true before you're ready? How can you go out there and be happy when you're still picking up the pieces? This is going to take time. We promised it would go one day at a time…"_

Cinder gave the faintest hint of a sad smile. "A year and a half is a long time…" She took another deep breath and used her thumb to smoothly wipe away a fresh tear. 

_"I'm proud of you,"_ Pyrrha said. 

"For what?" 

_"For calling for me. You used to handle everything with violence. You almost did, but…"_ Pyrrha grinned warmly, her voice trailing off. _"You finally trusted me to take over."_

Cinder blushed, averting her gaze. "Oh… right. That wasn't anything. I just… I wanted to get out. And you were there and I…" 

_"I love you too, Cinder."_

"Be quiet-!" Cinder hissed before a knock to the door broke her away from the conversation. 

Penny's voice chirped from outside the door. "Cinder, are you alright in there? Do you require any food or water? Hydration is important if you're going to isolate yourself." 

Cinder rolled her eye and shot a look at Pyrrha, who simply beamed in return. “No… No, that’s alright. I’m coming out,” she groaned, using the wall to help steady herself to her feet. 

\--

After leaving the supply closet, Cinder dusted herself off and muttered a few apologies to Penny while also trying to slip in an explanation for her actions. How was she supposed to clue the girl in on her bizarre, drug-induced panic attack? But to her surprise, Penny simply nodded along and listened with rapt attention. 

Once Cinder finished, Penny said, “I see. I am very sorry, but I am also relieved that I did not hurt you.” 

Cinder gave her a grim smile. “If I may be frank, I’m more satisfied that I did not hurt you. I wanted to.” 

“Oh?” Penny tilted her head, frowning a bit. 

Cinder waved her hand. “Not like that. I just… wanted to hurt somebody. It always made me feel stronger. Better than everyone else. Nobody would hurt me when I could take everything away from them.” 

“I see,” Penny merely repeated. For a moment, she looked to the side and her face depressed. Then she glanced back at Cinder, her smile working back onto her face as if the Fall Maiden could not notice in the slightest. “I will walk you to the front then, Cinder. I am again sorry for your experiences here-” 

“Penny,” Cinder interrupted sharply. 

The freckled girl froze, her eyes trained on Cinder in case she should prepare herself for another attack. “Yes?” 

Ignoring the warning Pyrrha whispered into her mind, Cinder swallowed her pride and went out with it. “Penny, do you forgive me?” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean…” Cinder bit her lip. This was a question she knew the answer to. She had known it since she had stepped foot into this workshop. “After everything I’ve done to you, do you forgive me?” 

Penny blinked and looked around. She clasped her hands together, bending her head towards the floor. After a minute, she responded, “I’m sorry. I do not forgive you.” Her voice was distant, a bit hollow. 

“Oh.” Cinder let her shoulders lower a bit. Maybe her eye betrayed some pain, but inside, she was somewhat relieved to just have asked. It hurt, but it wasn’t like she couldn’t understand. She forced a somber smile. “Thank you for telling me the truth. I thought it would be odd if you had forgiven me… especially after my interference made you lose precious time with your father.” 

“It is difficult to see you,” admitted Penny, trembling. She glanced at her hands, seemingly about to cry. But instead, she hugged the sides of her shoulders. “I’m sorry. I want to forgive. Forgiving should feel good.” 

“No. No, it shouldn’t.” Cinder briefly touched her shoulder. “It’s alright. I’m prepared to never gain it from you and I will still go on just fine. I will never be in your way anymore, Penny. But if it is not too much trouble, could you hold onto the arm? I’ll pay for the damages to your office, but there may be a time when I am ready to… you know, have the procedure.” 

Penny wiped her eyes, nodding. “Yes, of course.” She looked at Cinder. “I cannot forgive you. But...I am happy that you try not to hurt people. And I am happy that you are not hurting either.” She gestured for Cinder to follow her through the hall back to the front of the office. 

As Cinder drifted behind Penny, Pyrrha whispered into her thoughts. _“How did you know she hadn’t forgiven you?”_

Cinder smiled, training her eye on Penny’s back. “Because you told me she’s human and I believe you. If I were her, I would not forgive me either.” 

\---

Despite Penny’s positive and friendly goodbye, Cinder left the office feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. This day… This day had been terrible, she decided to herself even when she knew Pyrrha could sense those melancholic twinges in her soul. Now she had to drag herself back to an airship and get back to Argus to explain that she couldn’t get the procedure down. Not to mention the bombardment of questions she would face from her blonde partner about why she looked so upset and what had occured. Maybe if she just flew back to Argus with her Maiden powers, she could compose herself and do this without disturbing him. 

“Cinder! Oh, thank goodness!” 

That goofy voice lifted Cinder from her morose thoughts. Standing before her with a large bouquet of orange and yellow flowers was the one person she didn’t want to see and yet, those doubts and feelings all just melted away as soon as Cinder laid her eye on him.

“Jaune,” she breathed, heat rising to her cheeks. Inside, Pyrrha was already humming happily, something nearly made Cinder chuckle a bit despite the mood. “W...What are you doing here?” 

Jaune stared at her. He was covered in sweat and his chest was heaving, drawing deep breaths of air. Had he been running? “I…” He started, looking on the verge of frustration and tears himself. “Cinder… I can’t believe I did this to you… I was just and...I thought it would make you happy!” 

With an exasperated groan, Jaune set down the flowers on a waiting room chair. Then he marched right up to the Fall Maiden, grasping her right hand. “Cinder, I am so sorry,” he uttered, a defeated look in his eyes. “I messed up! I...I’ve been so damn selfish!” His lip trembled and the slightest tears poked to his eyes. “I was so excited about showering you in some stupid surprise that I just skirted around whether or not you even wanted something like this! I’m so stupid, stupid, stupid!” 

Cinder watched him in awe as he knelt to her like a knight to a fair maiden, still clutching her hand with both of his. “Cinder, you deserve so much better than this. You deserve someone who is going to be honest and upfront with you and I am so sorry-!” Suddenly a force slamming into his chest nearly knocked the wind out of him. He lowered his arms around Cinder’s waist, holding her in a tight embrace. 

“I’m just so glad…” Cinder muttered. “So glad you’re here. I missed you so much!” 

Jaune’s eyes widened. Tears slid down his cheeks as he held her close. “Hey… I’m glad I’m here too. Let’s get you home. I’m just so relieved that you and Pyrrha are safe…” He rubbed her back, finally breaking away from the hug. “Want me to carry you?” 

Cinder rubbed her cheek. “Touch me any further and I’ll destroy you.” 

“There’s the evil and horrible Fall Maiden I know and love-” Jaune said until the doors of the workshop suddenly flung open. 

Light poured in on the couple as two small children scurried in from the snowy streets of Mantle. The silver-haired boy Cinder had met on the street jabbed his finger in her direction and boldly declared to his friend, 

“There she is! That’s the monster lady who shoots fire from her eyes and ate her own arm! Let’s get her!!” 

Jaune paused, blinking at the two children who then proceeded to tackle Cinder’s shins. “...What?!” 

Pyrrha placed her hand over her face beside her partner. _“Cinder!”_

Cinder scoffed, putting her hand to her hip and wasting no time in kicking the silver boy off. “Oh, right. I guess I should explain,” she said, a devilish smirk playing on her lips. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the kudos and comments on the initial chapter. This is my first fic posted in such a long time, so it totally took me by surprise.


	3. Children

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the faves and story watches everyone and I apologize for the wait for the third chapter. 

"Cinder," began Jaune, looking out at the two children in dismay, "I can't believe you would just antagonize a kid-wait, what am I saying? Of course you'd bully some innocent kid." He rubbed his temples, taking a step behind the Fall Maiden. 

Cinder, on the other hand, had her human arm out to catch the silver-haired child's head as they were running at her, attempting to whack her shins again. 

"Oh, please. I only scared them a little to get them to back off." She let the child's head go, allowing them to stumble over into Penny's reception desk. 

The child grumbled and their friend helped them back up from their fight. Their sudden tumble did not keep them from glaring at Cinder. Cinder merely huffed back. 

"It's late," the Fall Maiden said, noticing the setting of the sun outside of the office window. "Just give me a bit of time and I'll get the children back to their parents." She placed an arm on Jaune's shoulder. "I'll meet you back on the airship." 

Jaune smiled wearily, moving to take Cinder's hand in his own. "I think we should both help in getting them home." 

Cinder nodded, ignoring the slight heat to her cheeks. Pyrrha was already happily fluttering inside her mind and Cinder didn't exactly mind sharing in the sensation. For the longest while, she held Jaune's gaze until one of the children interrupted them. Not the silver-haired one, but their red-haired friend. 

"Uh, Silvio is-" The red-haired boy started, but the silver child soon cut him off. 

"I live on the far west side of town," the child squawked quickly. 

Cinder raised her eyebrow. For the life of her, she really couldn't tell if this child was a boy or a girl. Their hair was mussed up and a great bit of dirt covered their cheeks down to their raggy jacket. Nevertheless, she shrugged at the child. "Very well. I'll walk you home no matter how far it is." 

The child was obviously not expecting that answer. "Oh, but you don't wanna… I can just…" 

"It's getting dark," said Cinder firmly. 

Jaune bent down to pat both of the children on their heads. "She's right. We don't want you guys getting hurt. Think of your mommies. Probably at home worried sick about you." 

The red-haired child shuffled his foot nervously while Silvio coughed into their hands, looking away. Cinder leaned, setting her hand on her hip. 

"It's settled then," she said, about to reach for Silvio's hand. "Let's get going-" 

"HOLD IT!"

Before she could take the child anywhere, a very disheveled and exhausted Oscar Pine skidded to a stop just in front of the entrance to the workshop. He panted, doubling over and trailed into the establishment rather slowly as he tried to catch his breath. He put his finger up in front of Cinder, opening his mouth as if to tell her something. 

"Hello to you too, farm boy," said Cinder, not knowing what to expect. 

"Flowers…" Oscar spat out. 

Jaune took a step back, swallowing. "Uh oh…" 

Cinder blinked. "Flowers?" 

Oscar nodded before taking an enormous breath. Then he jerked an accusatory finger in Jaune's direction. "That guy stole the flowers I bought!" 

Cinder immediately swerved her head in Jaune's direction. The blonde huntsman shyly hugged the golden and orange bouquet to his chest, his face reddening immediately. 

"Did he now?" Cinder asked, tempted to roll her eye. 

Oscar nodded. "He took them without asking and ran here like a maniac!" It was quite a sight to see the usually calm and shy boy so irritable with his cheeks puffed out. 

"Oh really? That sounds so… inconsiderate." Cinder said, keeping her judgmental glare on Jaune.

_"Now, now… it's the thought that counts,"_ murmured Pyrrha in Cinder's mind. As though Cinder was listening...

Jaune seemed to shrink in her presence, stammering out a pathetic excuse. "When I learned what I did… I wanted to make it up to you… and… and there was no time! And-!" A sudden pull of his ear cut him short as he whimpered in pain. 

"Give the farm boy back his flowers!!!" Cinder demanded, giving him a bop on the head. 

Dejected, Jaune held out the flowers for Oscar to take and the farm boy did so without hesitation, now tucking the bouquet safely under one arm. Oscar turned to Cinder and bowed. 

"Thank you, Miss Fall. Ruby is supposed to be here by tonight and Jaune just ran off with them before I could even-" 

"Ruby's going to be in Atlas tonight?" Cinder interrupted, a sudden frown pulling on her lips. 

Oscar paled. Right… He probably should not have mentioned that. "I… well… yes. And I'm trying to get ready to see her." 

Cinder paused, looking from Oscar to Jaune to the children, who were now idly sitting down on the seats in Penny's office. Still hearing Ruby's name made her feel slighted in some way… and in reality, it really had nothing to do with her former nemesis in any way. 

The office had gone insanely quiet. That was until Penny sailed out before them as well, a cheery smile on her face. 

"Did I hear Ruby was coming?!" 

Oscar nodded slowly, unsure if he should say anything else. He glanced to Cinder. 

Cinder exhaled softly, feeling the faint trace of Pyrrha's voice urging her to say something. Anything. 

_"It's alright,"_ Pyrrha said gently to her. Cinder almost felt like nodding back. How could one syrupy sweet voice make the fear melt away? Cinder wanted to cling to her words for a bit longer, but instead, she turned to Oscar and smoothed his hair back. 

"Uh, Miss Fall-!" The freckled boy was clearly taken aback. 

Cinder smiled, licking her thumb and cleaning a smudge from his cheek. "Hold still. If you're going to see Ruby tonight, you can't look like this." 

"O-oh. Yes, ma'am." Oscar was one of the few rare people outside of Jaune that Cinder would ever extend her kindness too. When she had just gotten away from Salem and settled into her new life with Pyrrha's soul joined with her own, there was only one boy who could understand what she was going through. If nothing else, Oscar made her feel not so unusual for too long. 

Penny beamed at Oscar, leaning over the office counter to watch Cinder go to work on making him somewhat presentable. "By the way, Cinder," she said, drawing her attention away from the farm boy. "Before you leave, please do not forget your trinket." She placed the ruby encrusted bow on the counter. 

Cinder had just fixed the rest of Oscar's hair, tucking a few strands behind his ear before turning to see her gift waiting for her. "Oh." She said shortly. Then she shook her head. "Please… just keep it. Aside from the gemstones, I can make a lot of these in an instant." 

Penny tilted her head, peering down at the bow. "But it looks so expensive and delicate. Why did you make me such a thing?" 

"Because Jaune said you liked rubies." Cinder almost gave her a dumbfounded look. Wasn't it obvious? 

Penny stared back at her wordlessly as if the words Cinder just said weren't quite registering to her at the moment. 

Cinder heard a small sigh in the back of her mind. _"Cinder,"_ Pyrrha said lightly, suppressing her amusement, _"Jaune said she liked Ruby. You weren't listening again."_

Cinder's eye widened. "What? He… He meant Ruby this whole time?!" She couldn't believe it. All that work and the gemstones… for nothing! 

Penny lit up immediately, cuddling the trinket close to her chest. "Ohhh, yes! I do so very much like Ruby!" Her hands balled up and she started rocking back and forth on her feet excitedly. 

Cinder bit her lip. She could already hear the laughter from her partner inside her mind before Pyrrha even started. "Oh please. You know he drones on and on!" What was she supposed to do? Actually listen to the majority of what Jaune said when he rambled to her? 

Jaune folded his arms, forming a pout to his lips. "I'm still here, you know?" 

"Yes," said Cinder. "And your flowers were garbage. So keep quiet." 

Oscar poked up from the back of the office as he checked his hair in a mirror. "You think my flowers are garbage?" 

"No, farm boy. For Ruby, they're fine." 

Jaune shook his head. "You're just cruel." 

"Nevertheless," Cinder said, turning back to Penny, "please keep it." 

The freckled girl nodded. "If you insist, then I will keep it for myself." 

"Good." 

\--

With a goodbye to Penny and to Oscar who wanted to wait in town to see Ruby, Jaune and Cinder were left on their own with the children. Jaune leaned down, letting the red-haired boy, Ruben, hold his hand and smiled at Cinder. 

"Are you sure you'll be okay on your own?" Jaune asked, rubbing the back of his head. 

"You're actually somewhat cute when you worry," Cinder mused, standing beside Silvio. The child refused to hold her hand, undoubtedly wondering if flames would shoot out of her lone arm. 

"Ah, well, you know… I try," said Jaune, firing back a little wink. 

Silvio interrupted them. "You two are gross." 

Cinder smirked. "Aren't we though?" Pyrrha gave a laugh as well. "Come on. Let's get you home." She gave one last nod to Jaune. "I'll try to be back soon." 

Jaune was the type to get concerned when she was out of his sight for a while. And given everything that had happened that day, Cinder couldn't blame him. Jaune gave a wave to her and the child, setting off with Ruben who also muttered a soft and concerned goodbye to his friend. 

That just left Cinder and Silvio. "Alright," Cinder started, kneeling to the child. "This gets easier if I carry you. Or you can hold on to my back. We can fly over to the west side." 

The child glanced at her, perplexed. They had taken to sucking on their fingers nervously before popping them out. "Uhm… fly?" They repeated. 

"That's right," Cinder said. Pyrrha was urging her to be gentle and forthright. However, even she knew she didn't exactly want to scare the child off. Maybe they would like soaring through the air a little bit. "The west side of town is a bit far. You can ride on my back while we...er… spring over there." 

"Can you fly?" Silvio seemed intrigued. "Is that your semblance? I thought it was heat." 

"As it turns out, I am a lady of a lot of talents," Cinder responded smoothly. She grinned, letting the flames suddenly ripple out from her right eye. 

Silvio gasped, raising their fingers as if to actually grasp at the flames. Then, they receded their hand and chose to stare instead. "You're like a lady dragon. Dragon lady. A monster lady." 

Cinder felt her grin slip just a bit. "You'd be surprised at how many would agree with you." 

_"And yet, I find you to be a very valiant dragon woman,"_ Pyrrha teased, feeling Cinder's discontent. 

Cinder shook it off. "Still, we're going to the west side of Mantle. If it feels better, I'll just carry you." 

The child paused. Then they said, "No. There's no point." 

"And why not?" 

Silvio sighed, staring at the white ground. "Um… Uhm…" 

"Oh please. I can do this all day," the Fall Maiden tutted in irritation. 

Silvio looked around. Were they expecting someone to hear them speaking out of turn or were they merely frightened of Cinder? They tiptoed closer to Cinder, who knelt down when he gestured for her to. "Uhmm… I lied…" They whispered in her ear. 

Cinder rolled her eye at such foolishness. Were children really like this? "Oh? And why would you do that?" 

"Uhm… uh… to get you to go away?" 

"Fair enough," she said impatiently. It wasn't like she couldn't understand that at least. "Well, where do you live?" 

Silvio got close again to whisper. "Uhm..nowhere. I just live around." They shrugged, gesturing at the rest of the city before them. 

Well… now they were getting somewhere. The Fall Maiden sighed and stood back up. It was perfectly clear. Perhaps abundantly so given Cinder always knew a stray when she saw one. A disgusting habit of hers, really. 

She almost cursed herself out for not realizing sooner when the child outwardly looked so disheveled and dirty. A part of her had just chalked it up to Silvio just playing on the streets to appear that way, but it seemed she was wrong. 

"I see," Cinder said. After a moment, she added without looking at the child, "Where are your parents?" 

Silvio hesitated. Cinder could feel their gaze on her, nervously anticipating whether or not they should really tell the monster lady their troubles. It didn't matter. Cinder could probably guess on her own. 

Inwardly, she formed the thought to Pyrrha. _Why else would a child's parents not be here and they would be running on the streets?_

In her mind, Pyrrha nodded and Cinder could feel her sympathy flooding through her soul. So many things in Mantle had been fixed since the destruction and joining of Atlas, but there were still leftovers of a horrific outcome. This child was just another piece of that. 

Silvio quivered beside her and sniffled, trying to hold back what Cinder recognized to be tears. The child failed and instead dipped their chin to stare at the safety of the ground and hide their face. 

"Pyrrha, switch with me," Cinder said. 

Usually Pyrrha would contest and fight Cinder on this, to make her host fight her own battles and own up to her mistakes. But this was not one of those times. A light encapsulated Cinder's form, forcing Silvio to step back and cover their eyes. The next thing they knew, "Cinder" was back on her knees, palming their cheek gently and staring at them with a kindly, small smile. 

_"I understand completely,"_ Pyrrha said. _"Don't feel you need to say anymore."_

"I don't-I…" Silvio stammered, their cheeks red from their tears. "Why do you sound different?! Who are you?!" 

Pyrrha stroked Silvio's hair back and used her thumb to wipe a fresh tear from the child's cheek. _"Would you believe I am two people in one body? Normally you can call me Cinder Fall. Or just Cinder. Now, however, I am Pyrrha Nikos. Or just Pyrrha."_ She spoke clearly and concise, making sure to keep direct and sincere eye contact with the child to dispel any doubt to what she said. 

"Cinder… and Pyrrha…?" The child droned, trying to follow the logic. 

_"That's right,"_ reinforced Pyrrha, wiping away another tear. 

The child appeared thoughtful for a moment. "Are you split down the middle?" Pyrrha sounded so soft and gentle, so kind and virtuous, so unlike the woman before. "Are you the good one and the other lady is evil?" 

Cinder scoffed inside Pyrrha's head, not surprised at such a classification. Pyrrha smiled and shook her head. 

_"That's not it at all. The lady from before may seem odd and angry, but she switched to me because she was scared for you._ " 

Silvio blinked. "Scared for me?" 

_"I was what?"_ Cinder shot at Pyrrha from within. Pyrrha elected to ignore that. 

_"You see, she was scared that anything she said could have made you feel worse,"_ said Pyrrha, taking simple delight in Cinder's rage and denial bubbling to the surface. _"She didn't want to hurt your feelings and she was sad that she already made you cry._ " 

Silvio looked surprised but not as much as Cinder evidently was at the back of Pyrrha's mind. It was so hard for Pyrrha not to simply grin at Cinder's refusal at such a concept of her even caring about this child's feelings. 

"Then," the child asked, "what really are you?" 

_"As I said, she and I are two people in one. We just share the same body. Her body."_ Pyrrha flashed the question to change back to Cinder for demonstration and the Fall Maiden agreed. _"See?"_

The luminous glint in Cinder's eye seemed to fade as Pyrrha switched places with her once more. The child stared at her in awe as Cinder took on a more defiant and annoyed stance, standing up and placing her hand on her hip. 

"It is me," she said, a bit lamely. "Cinder." 

Silvio gasped and ran over to Cinder's leg, amazed at her transformation. "Wow!!! You really did change! Do it again! Change back to the nice lady!" 

"What? No!" Cinder gaped at them. 

"Why not?!" 

"Because it's exhausting," Cinder retorted. "It especially wears down on our aura." 

"Oh." Disappointed, Silvio's arms fell to their waist. 

Cinder opened her eye and peered back down at the child. Then she sighed and knelt down again. "I… I'm sorry about your parents." 

Silvio's face darkened and Cinder could see the tears trying to push from their eyes again. "My mommy… I miss her… so much…" Another tear was starting to poke through. 

Well, Cinder hadn't meant to undo Pyrrha's handiwork in calming the child down, but the entire situation made her want to say something. Anything. Even if she was just quietly sorry for a Grimm attack a few years ago that undoubtedly took this child's parents away. Not that she would say the full thing to them. 

Instead, something else slipped out of Cinder's mouth. "My mother died when I was young too. I didn't know her," she said. 

She took Silvio's hand and the two began to walk down the snowy pavement of the Mantle street. Silvio was rubbing their eyes. The world had seemed to vanish around them so much so that Cinder didn't hear the normal hustle of the market street. Instead, she and the child dwelt on every crunch their boots made in the snow, walking solemnly side by side. 

"Why did she die?" The child suddenly spoke up. 

"Sickness. It was just me and my father after that." 

"What was he like?" 

Cinder nearly froze in her tracks. She closed her eyes and immediately pushed away a bad memory that just wasn't worth dwelling on. "He… was a bad man," she said simply. "He did bad things. I loved him and would have done anything for him. But that didn't change anything." 

Cinder peered down at Silvio again. What was she doing? This was a child. They couldn't understand or even comprehend… and yet, Silvio nodded quietly. Wait… did they understand? 

"Your dad was mean," they said back. "I'm sorry you had a mean daddy." 

Cinder shrugged and felt as though the smallest grin was on her lips. "It's alright. He didn't last long either. However…" 

Her mind flashed the image of a strong, muscle-bound man with a stony face. His soft eyes, however, betrayed such a hard outward appearance. Those eyes always held remorse whenever Cinder gazed into them. Maybe that was why Hazel Rainart ignored her so much back then. Maybe he was afraid Cinder could see the guilt plastered on his face day in and day out. Thinking of Hazel, Cinder felt a pang of pain in her chest.

If there was someone who could have been a better father to her, maybe… maybe it was Hazel. 

Then she remembered she was still talking to the child. The child who had no home and no parents. "Listen to me," she said. "I think… I think other people can be your family if you let them be. Not that your mother and father don't matter either." 

Silvio didn't say anything. And Cinder did not expect them to. So she continued. "After my father, I never wanted another family. But… well… Pyrrha is my family now. Not that she'll take no for an answer." Cinder smirked, her hand entwining with the child's. "In the end, it's not so bad. When you have a family, you tend to have a home too." 

Silvio scoffed. "But I don't have a home!" They gestured around at the frosty, metal city. 

Cinder nodded, sighing a bit. "Well… about that…" 

\--

Sunlight dimmed over the cold city of Mantle and a scent of fresh airship fuel layered in the air. One such ship slowly ascended from its takeoff point and soared through the darkening skies. 

Cinder was strapped into a seat beside Jaune, leaning against the wall. Beside her, Silvio was fast asleep against her, only shifting uncomfortably on occasion due to the ride. 

"Are you sure about this?" Jaune asked, placing a hand on Cinder's shoulder. 

"It's temporary. You said Saphron could help us find a foster family for them in Argus. A few days with us will be nothing." 

"Still…" Jaune said, leaning over to look at the sleeping child. "I just… I never expected this from you. Did Pyrrha tell you-"

Cinder shook her head. "She gave me the feeling, I suppose. But in the end, I do think I feel somewhat responsible for this child and their fate." 

"Cinder, their parents… you didn't… that was Salem." 

"What difference does it make?" Cinder rebutted sourly. 

Jaune said nothing. That's what Cinder thought. A moment passed by them in silence with nothing but the rickety ship coursing through the air to listen to. 

Finally, Jaune's voice cut away the silence. "I'm proud of you. Both of you." He slunk his fingers around Cinder's hand. "You two are just…" His voice went small, but passionate. "...so cool!" 

A smile returned to Cinder's lips. How the hell did Jaune do this to her? 

"Shut up," she said, grinning. 

\--

When they had returned to Argus, it was well past sundown and the stars were shimmering above in the sky. Cinder certainly did not find it pleasant to wake the child up in order to carry them onto a trolley. Silvio grumbled the entire ride, but Jaune would rub their head while they would rest against Cinder's lap. 

Eventually the tram car stopped right at their apartment street and Jaune carried the child the rest of the way on his back. They flicked the lights on in the apartment, both adults yawning and shuffling around to get things set up for Silvio on the sofa. 

"There you go," said Jaune, settling the old T-shirt over Silvio's head. "This should cover you just fine for tonight. Now let's get you to bed." 

Cinder watched, surprised that the child raised no objections for once and let Jaune carry them over to the large sofa. Maybe they were just too tired or perhaps they were just happy to have a warm place to sleep…

_"I think it's the latter,"_ said Pyrrha warmly. _"That they finally have a roof over their head."_

"It makes sense. I know when I was first brought to Evernight Castle, I didn't want to fight it," said Cinder, watching Silvio roll into their blanket. Jaune gingerly covered the child in two sets of blankets and patted their head until they began to drift off. 

_"Cinder…"_ Pyrrha started in concern. 

Cinder waved her hand. "I know what you're thinking. Not all of Evernight was bad." She thought she saw Jaune perk up for a moment. Subtle. Trying to listen in. So Cinder decided to let it rest there and continue her trip into her memories in silence as she walked to her dark bedroom. 

_"Is this my bedroom?" A younger Cinder of fifteen years old asked. She stood by the window, peering from the shredded violet curtains out into the hazy red skies._

_She pushed her mop of dark hair from her eye to watch the Grimm rise from their pools in the distance. The screams of Nevermores coated the air and she could hear howls trying to match their pitch. It made her blood run cold. Tears formed to her eyes._

_Was this home?_

_Gritting her teeth, she shook her head. No. She was done being afraid. Forever._

_Everything about this place was terrifying and should have filled Cinder with the urge to flee. But she would have none of it._

_If only because her legs felt so weak and tired… why was she so weary? She wanted to collapse and cry out, but instead the Grimm seemed to cry for her._

_Another howl sent a shudder down her spine. "Nghaaa!" She covered her ears. What could make that howling stop? The noise… it was so solemn, so cold and hollow to her mind!_

_"Cinder," a gruff voice uttered from behind her. She turned to see the very person who had brought her before Salem in the first place. Hazel._

_Cinder trembled, stepping back on impulse. "I… I was…"_

_Hazel regarded her in silence for a moment. Then his features softened. "You need to get some rest. You have a long… ahem… destiny ahead of you, child."_

_Cinder hung her head, her heart still pounding in her ears. "I can't sleep like this. Their screams… I'm-!"_

_"-Scared?" Hazel stepped towards her, reaching over Cinder to draw the curtains closed. "Don't be. They can sense your fear. However…" His eyes rested on her. "They will not touch you so long as you reside with Salem. Still, you will want to be in the habit of controlling your emotions."_

_"..." Cinder averted her gaze to the floor, only looking up when the large man offered his hand to her._

_"Come, child. Get into bed." Hazel said softly, clasping his hand over hers. Gently, he led her to her bed and helped her up past the curtains that lined it._

_Once Cinder laid back, Hazel pushed the blankets over her scrawny form. He neglected tucking her in, lest he treat her like an invalid._

_"I can read to you," he suggested._

_Cinder feebly shook her head. "No. I don't want stories."_

_"I can talk to you until you fall asleep."_

_"I… don't know what to say," Cinder said, shifting to her side. She curled up on the bed, trying to hide the distraught look on her face._

_Hazel cleared his throat and Cinder felt two of his fingers stroke her head. Almost lovingly, he patted her._

_"Then, I will make sure you never have anything to fear, Cinder. I promise."_

_Cinder closed her eyes. Hanging onto the man's kindness, she wanted to believe him…_

Cinder lingered by the door to watch Jaune tend to the sleepy child in their living room. Silvio was just drifting off to the sound of Jaune's soothing voice. 

"That's it…" Jaune muttered, his voice going lower and lower to just a faint whisper. "There's nothing to be scared of." 

Cinder watched for a few more moments and then with Pyrrha's guiding insistence, she and her partner resigned to their bedroom.

  
  
  



	4. Scorpions and Trinkets

"Wow…" 

The silver-haired child crept into the dark room, making sure to shut the door behind them so that it wouldn't make a sound. Only a small glimmer of sunlight made it past the closed curtains, slightly illuminating several figures of stuffed Grimm toys along the eastern wall. Row after row of Ursa, King Taijitu, Beowolves, and even a giant Nevermore layered the cramped room. It was like a gallery of monsters. And right in the middle of the room was a large bed with a slumbering Fall Maiden. 

Cinder had her lone arm tucked around another Grimm plushie that Silvio had never seen before. It looked like a dragon with its big face of sharp, rock-like teeth and its little wings dangling at the side, having been sewn on. The covers were half off and every so often, Cinder groaned and shifted a bit to nuzzle her head further in her pillow. 

As far as Silvio was concerned, they had just entered the realm of a Monster Queen. The child leapt into several of the stuffed Grimm, bouncing on a giant Ursa's stomach. "Haha! It's so squishy!" They giggled, rolling off the plushie into the giant Nevermore. The bird Grimm was definitely sturdier, but Silvio couldn't help but to grab its fake wing with both hands and flap it up and down. "Rawrrrrr!" They didn't know what a Nevermore was supposed to sound like, but that was close, wasn't it? 

Once they were done wrestling with a Beowolf plushie, they scurried back up to Cinder on the bed. As fun as it was to explore, maybe it was best to do it with the weird lady who was fast asleep in the room to begin with. 

Silvio crawled up onto the bed and over to Cinder snoring form. For such a scary Monster Lady, she slept with her mouth open and secured such a cute Grimm plushie tight to her chest like her life depended on it. 

"Hey… lady…" Silvio said in a hushed voice, shaking Cinder on the arm. 

Cinder grunted and merely tilted her head, not rousing from slumber in the slightest. "Mhmmm… Pyrrha…" 

Silvio gasped, shaking their balled up fists in excitement. The Monster Lady was talking to the nice lady inside of her! Maybe she would want to come out and play too. 

Silvio shook Cinder again. "Come on! It's late in the morning. I wanna eat!" 

Cinder grinned in her sleep. "Oh… so you're going to bite me there…that's very daring of you…" She purred, turning around with a soft and pleasured groan. 

Silvio blinked. What a strange and lazy lady. They sighed and peered up to see something they hadn't noticed right away. And maybe they should have. 

A large portrait hung on the wall above the bed. Shadowy mountains and crimson skies framed a rather tall and unseemly woman in the picture. Silvio peered closer, unsure of what to make of it aside from the sudden chill working down the child's spine. The woman in the portrait was pale as could be with veiny, long lines of red worming through her face. A dark jewel sat in the middle of the woman's forehead and long, dangling buns of white, glossy hair protruded out in neat, black twine. Onyx and ruby-esque jewels hung from the woman's hair and she was cloaked in a blackened dress. She was quite an eerie woman, but Silvio did not want to look away from her. 

"Woah…" Silvio stared at the portrait for a moment, then looked at the woman sleeping beneath it. It was almost like the woman in the painting was watching over Cinder while she slept on. That gave Silvio an idea. Everything made sense now! 

"This must be her mommy," they said, nodding to themselves. Yes… that must be it. 

Silvio hopped off the bed to look at a table with another photo that was in an upright position, tacked to a board. It looked like a Wanted Poster that one would find in the movies or on the news. On the poster was the image of a large and frightening man with very soft eyes of hazel. Silvio stared at the picture and glanced back at the portrait. 

Now everything made sense. "Hmmm… this must be her daddy." Silvio pointed at the woman's portrait. "Her mommy was a monster lady and her daddy was human… so she's part monster and could never be with her own kind because she didn't belong!" They took the photo of the man and tucked it in the drawer of the table, remembering how Cinder said her Daddy was a mean man. Now she didn't have to look at him any longer. 

Silvio was starting to put everything together in their head. Cinder was a weird girl who was part-monster because her mother was a queen monster and her father was human. She could never fit in with the monsters and she definitely couldn't fit in with the humans because she was so scary! That, and she apparently had another woman inside of her soul, so even her mommy and daddy could never understand their daughter. Cinder was probably very sad and wandered around doing monster stuff and being mean until that weird blonde guy found her and they fell in love. 

Silvio smiled. It was a nice story. Even if Cinder fell in love with that wimpy, blonde human instead of staying with the cool monsters. But at least she had an awesome room, they decided as they glanced at all the stuffed monster toys. 

Cinder shook over again, letting out another satisfied mewl. "Y-Yes… right there-!" She squealed breathlessly. 

Silvio frowned. How could an adult be so lively while sleeping? It felt so odd, so they had the brilliant idea to pounce on Cinder to wake her up. And pounce, they did. They took a giant leap and landed square on the woman's chest, forcing the poor Maiden to bolt upright and gasp. 

Cinder's eye shot open and she quickly felt around with her one arm as though she were under attack. "Wh-?!" Then she narrowed her gaze to see a child sitting on her torso, looking rather pleased with themselves. Cinder gritted her teeth, pushing down the urge to toss the child out the window. 

Instead, she bitterly asked, "Pyrrha… before I reduce this one to ashes, what are they doing here?" 

Evidently, Pyrrha did not think she would be woken up in such a way either. "You brought Silvio home last night," she muttered sleepily inside of Cinder's mind. 

"I did that? It doesn't sound like me." It really did not. 

"I assure you, you did." 

Cinder groaned, shaking her head. "Right… well even I can make mistakes." She looked down at Silvio. "What do you want?" 

"I'm hungry!" Silvio smacked their arms on Cinder's stomach. "That blonde guy already left me alone!" 

Cinder glanced around her room for a moment. "So… you found your way into my room, but you can't be bothered to check a fridge?!" 

"Um…" Silvio lowered their head. "I didn't want to just take it. What if you got mad at me and lit me on fire?" 

A small sigh escaped Cinder's lips and she fell straight back on her black pillow. "Of course…" 

For the love of the Brothers, she just wanted to turn over and go back to sleep. But she couldn't do that with a child on her stomach, who thought it was amusing to slap her shoulder every time she tried to close her eye again. 

"Cinder," said Pyrrha lightly in her mind. "You need to get up and feed them." 

"Five more minutes…" 

"You know, you weren't this lazy when you were a power-hungry terrorist…" 

Cinder scoffed. "Oh, that's low-" 

"Ooh! What's this?!" Silvio's excited giggle cut their argument short as they bounded off of Cinder's lap and over to her left-hand bedside table. As Cinder lifted her head and opened her eye again, she saw that the child already had a small trinket in their little hands. The only light in the room shone off the dark stone and illuminated the pretty blue-green feathers attached to the golden wiring. 

"It's so pretty…" Silvio said softly, placing it against their chest to try it on. It clipped to their dirty scarf and they beamed, their fingers crossing the soft feathers. "Cool!" 

Cinder paused, watching the child with interest as a memory formed inside of her head. Usually, this was a memory she wanted to always push away… 

_ "It's so pretty, Father," a twelve-year-old Cinder breathed excitedly. The feather trinket was at its full glory: a massive jewel with many delicate blue, green, and purple feathers sprawling at its center. And now, it clipped perfectly to the young Cinder's dress at her hip.  _

_ Her father smiled and placed a finger to his bearded chin thoughtfully. "Yes…it certainly fits now." He stared at his daughter for the longest time, then continued, "Your mother always wanted you to have this. It marked you as her greatest treasure, something she made herself. She was always so proud of you. As am I."  _

_ Her father moved forward, knocking aside her mother's old chest to place his hands on Cinder's shoulders. He led her to her mother's bed and sat down beside her.  _

_ Young Cinder was so absorbed in playing with the trinket, even glancing at her clear reflection in the jewel. "Amazing…"  _

_ "You really have grown up to look so much like her…" Her father insisted, his voice weakening slightly.  _

_ Cinder almost didn't hear him, nor did she feel his hand brushing her knee. "I wonder what she was like…" she said to herself.  _

_ "Like you… in every way… even down to your little voice…" Her father seemed to whisper, his hand drifting to Cinder's thigh.  _

_ "Even… our voice…?" Cinder did hear that and she frowned. Suddenly, she did not feel so good. The jewel was cold in between her hands and her heart was pounding. She dropped the jewel abruptly and her father moved his hand from her thigh to catch it.  _

_ "Easy," he almost laughed, cupping it in his arms. "This was your mother's greatest treasure before you. It's extremely delicate, you silly girl." He placed it gently back on the bedside table as a nervous chuckle left Cinder's throat. "I still need to have dinner prepared." He gave Cinder a reassuring pat on the shoulder before ushering towards the door.  _

_ "Happy birthday, Cinder…"  _

  
  


Cinder blinked at the child before her who was still fiddling with the trinket. Quickly, she snatched it from them and set it back on the table. "Careful! That happens to be very valuable." 

"What is it?" Silvio put their hands up, backing away from the jewel. 

"Erm...well…" Cinder paused again, thinking for a moment. She hadn't ever really thought about what it was to her. It was just something she always carried with her to be reminded of- "I suppose it's just an heirloom." She let out a sigh. "It's been through a lot though. It used to be bigger."

If she were to peer at her precious "heirloom" long enough, Cinder was sure she could find old scorch marks that were the result of battles she had lost. What would her mother think of that? 

"Still…" She added, to no one in particular. "I wouldn't be here if not for it." Cinder smiled a bit, feeling a bit of pride well up from Pyrrha's side of her mind. If anything, she carried that trinket now to remind herself of who she was and what she had almost lost. 

"Your room is really cool," Silvio said suddenly, rousing her from her thoughts. 

Cinder eyed the child strangely, then looked around at her room of stuffed monsters. "You… think my room is… cool…?" Even Jaune despised being in this room for too long. 

Silvio nodded. 

There was an awkward silence in the room between them until the child's stomach rumbled. 

"Oh yeah…" They said, crawling up on Cinder's bed to join her. "Make me food please." 

\---

"So… you have a child now," said Lie Ren, brushing his long dark from his eyes. "Then, yes. I think you're pushing things a little fast." 

Jaune and his teammate walked side by side down the early morning streets in Argus, plastic cups of coffee in their hands. When the sunrise broke out over the city, Ren and Nora had come to visit their leader to address a Grimm mission outside of the city and Jaune couldn't have been more relieved to see their faces. He wanted to tell Ren and Nora everything, especially the previous day of his mistake and Cinder's sudden affection for a child they brought into their home. 

"It's not like that," Jaune said quickly. "Look. You don't understand. I've never seen Cinder like this. This kid has her empathy meter dialed up to high." 

Nora grinned. "Awww, does the big bad Maiden have a maternal side to her?!" She inhaled deeply, punching her fist to her palm eagerly. "That means Cinder has a weakness! Ren, help me figure out a way to exploit it for our next fight!!!" 

Ren looked taken aback as they walked up to Jaune and Cinder's apartment. "What? You want me to figure out how to use the child to weaken Cinder?" 

"Well if ya put it that way, it does sound messed up," Nora huffed as Jaune opened the door. 

Jaune lowered his shoulders before stepping inside. "Put it this way…" He said a bit regretfully. "Cinder still refuses to open up to me. I'd ask Pyrrha about her issues and her past and she just tells me that Cinder will talk when she's ready." He glanced from Ren to Nora and added, "It's been two years… I'm starting to feel like I'm not the one she's going to be ready to open up to." 

His teammates both exchanged nervous glances for their friend, but followed him into the living room in silence. What could they really say? 

They all filed into the kitchen where Cinder was shuffling outside of her room with a groan, carrying Silvio in her arm. She plopped the child down on a chair and soberly tanked her head onto the table when she said down beside them. 

"Jaune," she muttered, "feed the child and shut them up." 

Jaune chuckled nervously, immediately sweeping to the fridge. "R-Right. Forgot about… uh, never mind. Lemme get something fixed up…" 

Ren put his head in his hand at the table, staring at Cinder. "Empathy meter dialed up to high, hm?" Nora snickered beside him. 

Cinder lifted her head. "Excuse me?" 

"Nothing!" Ren quickly looked away. "Nora, you brought Cinder something, right?" 

"Nice bail," the redhead said smoothly, taking a little Ursa Grimm squeaky plushie out of her bag. "Got this one at a fair we passed through in Anima for you." 

Cinder caught the toy and stared at it blankly. Well these toys from Nora were a dime a dozen by now, but the smallness of the plushie was indefinitely cute. Maybe she could add it to her windowsill collection. 

"Thank you," she said to Nora. It was strange but she and Nora had an understanding. And that understanding was fighting and plushies. At least, Nora loved to travel around and bring Cinder toys and Grimm souvenirs from wherever she went. Maybe Pyrrha once told her that Grimm things relaxed the Fall Maiden or something. Either way, it wasn't like Cinder didn't appreciate it. And all Nora ever asked in return was for a weekly dose of violence in a severe wrestling match of thunder vs. fire. 

Cinder gave the toy a squeeze and it let out a painfully loud squeak. Oh Brothers, that was going to be annoying fast. When she glanced at Silvio, she could see the child eyeing the toy with a playful curiosity. 

"Can I see-?!" The child excitedly bounced in their chair. 

Cinder scoffed and held out the toy for the child to eagerly snatch. As predicted, Silvio held the Ursa toy up in the air and immediately began to squeeze its belly so that it let out a series of shrill squeaks right in Cinder's ear. 

"Perfect," Cinder mumbled, biting into her finger to keep from setting the toy ablaze at the breakfast table. 

"Can I keep it?!" Silvio squealed. 

"Choke on it for all I care," Cinder shot back while Nora held back a few giggles. 

Ren turned to Jaune as he was fixing eggs over the stove. "You see, it's the amount of overwhelming  _ empathy _ that is really putting me in a tizzy here," he said sarcastically which earned him a glare from Cinder. 

"Something you want to tell me about?" Cinder asked, leaning back to gaze at Jaune. 

Jaune coughed, cracking eggs into a bowl. "Uh… no? Actually, is there any chance we could talk to Pyrrha?"

"Hm… yes, I do suppose she'll want to say hello to her teammates," Cinder remarked smoothly, checking her nails. If she inwardly objected, Jaune certainly couldn't tell. She flashed him a smile to ease his concerns. "Don't worry about it. I'm exhausted anyways." 

Silvio set their toy aside after another loud squeak. "Is the nice lady coming out again?!" They leaned over, watching Cinder with rapt attention. 

Cinder's lip twitched and waved the child off. Jaune was balancing a few eggs on his spatula, trying to keep his eyes on both Cinder and breakfast. "Wait! You haven't been sleeping-" Before he could get another word out, a glow of greenish-gold light eclipsed Cinder's form and suddenly, she sat up promptly and glanced around with a pleasant look. 

Pyrrha, in control of Cinder's body, gave a soft wave. _"Hello, everyone."_

Silvio gasped, not even noticing that they had knocked over their new toy onto the floor. "Nice lady!" 

Nora darted up beside Silvio to marvel at Pyrrha as well. "Pyrrha!!! Lookin' good, girl. Loving the eyes." It was a joke she shot to Pyrrha every time they met like this. "The scars are way out there, but I like them." 

Ren also nodded, a fond grin working its way on his face. "It is so good to see you." 

Pyrrha slipped off the stool and swept her one arm around Jaune's neck pulling him away from the stove to plant a kiss on his lips. Ren averted his eyes and even Nora went a bit pink. No one had ever quite gotten used to Cinder's body kissing their leader so openly and one had to wonder if Cinder was even used to it herself. From what Nora understood from Pyrrha, Cinder did not like kissing and instead preferred to be held. 

Jaune pulled back from the kiss while Silvio groaned in disgust in the background. "Is she-?" He shifted his eyes, hoping Pyrrha got the message. 

_"She's asleep_ ," said Pyrrha positively as she sat back next to Silvio. She preoccupied herself with brushing back the child's mop of hair. Then she mussed it up again to earn a soft giggle from them. " _As Cinder said, she's really tired so she's not listening_." 

"Okay, good." Jaune dumped the eggs and a few strips of bacon on two plates for Pyrrha and Silvio. 

Silvio tore into their meal, nipping at the bacon first. Pyrrha dug her knife into the eggs, waiting expectantly for Jaune to start questioning her. She even gave him a sort of wave, gesturing for him to start. 

Jaune inhaled. "Penny told me that Cinder broke down yesterday with the arm thing." 

_"And when did you learn that?"_ Pyrrha mused, playing with her eggs. _"Calling Penny up?"_

He shook his head while Nora and Ren watched with interest. "I ran back into her after I took Silvio's friend home. She said Cinder broke down crying and that she asked Penny for forgiveness for everything." 

"She did?" Ren interjected. 

"Jeez…" Nora said quietly. Even after two years, that was way too soon. 

Pyrrha paused, then looked down at her plate. _"Isn't that a good thing? Besides, Penny said that she didn't forgive Cinder. And that was that. Cinder handled it."_

"She didn't tell me anything," Jaune insisted, smacking his hand on the table. Pyrrha didn't answer, so he continued, "And now she's all exhausted. I'm gonna just guess that she stayed awake all night." 

" _Wrong_ ," said Pyrrha finally. _"I managed to, ah_ …" She looked to Silvio to make sure they were fully engrossed in eating. _"I_ _ convinced  _ _her to sleep after a while."_

Jaune didn't say anything. That defeated look on his face said everything well enough. 

Pyrrha sighed and reached for a napkin. _"But yes, she did have nightmares. More about Salem."_

"She  _ still _ sleeps with Salem's portrait over her bed," said Jaune, frowning. 

Pyrrha flicked Cinder's fringe away from her eye. _"You can't expect her to not still be attached to Salem a little,"_ she insisted. 

"It's been two years," said Ren quietly. "You don't think that Cinder ever thinks about-" 

Pyrrha immediately shook her head. _"I would know if she was thinking about going back there. She doesn't want to think about Salem, even with the nightmares."_

Jaune put his head down. "Look… I just… how am I supposed to help her when she never tells me anything?" The top of his ears were red. "I'm supposed to be the person she and you can rely on, but I don't know anything about her. I don't know her past, I don't know her nightmares, I don't know how she feels deep down-" 

" _She loves you,"_ Pyrrha said, her face oddly stern. She had abandoned her fork and instead looked at Jaune with her hand in her lap. _"The first thing she did when you showed up at Penny's yesterday was run to you and hug you."_

Jaune blushed and raised his head. "Still...I…" 

No, there was no way around this in Pyrrha's mind. She doubled down. _"Jaune, you're needed. We're looking to the future with you. And Cinder is all the more compassionate for it. Because of you…"_ She hesitated for a moment before sinking her fingers through Silvio's mop of hair. _"And well… I'm thinking she likes this little guy too."_

Silvio had a mouthful of eggs. "Monster lady likes me?" They asked after swallowing loudly. 

Pyrrha grinned and gently pushed on Silvio's button nose. " _Oh, indefinitely_ ," she said fondly, lowering to whisper to Silvio. _"She wants you to come back and play with her again."_

"But she's so mean!" 

_ "That's because she's scared you won't like her, so she's trying to frighten you off."  _

"Woah, really?" 

_"She's basically a kitten in a giant Manticore suit. A baby, really._ " 

Silvio snickered a bit while Jaune's look of dismay started to fade. Pyrrha was sure that at least some of her words were getting through to the stubborn blond, but Ren stood up before she could add anything else. 

“I’m sorry to cut this short,” he said, “but we do have to get to clearing out the Grimm before sundown.” 

Pyrrha tilted her head. _“Oh? Outside of Argus?”_

Jaune nodded, hopping off his stool to grab the sword resting on a shelf across the small kitchen. “A few miles outside of town, yeah. They’ve been crowding the train tracks again.” 

“Not for long!” Nora argued, stretching. 

Jaune swooped by Pyrrha and kissed her cheek swiftly, nodding to Silvio as well. “Do me a favor, kiddo,” he said with a smile, kneeling to them. “Not that they really need it, but can you watch over Cinder and Pyrrha for me while we’re out? It would mean the world to me.” 

Silvio shrugged and said nothing. Their little hands held a glass of milk and they sipped it before giving an indifferent nod to Jaune. Jaune sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. Was it just him or did this kid really… not like to talk to him? They seemed to open around Cinder and Pyrrha. Maybe it was because they already talked to the child and gained their trust. 

Either way, Jaune gave Silvio a thumbs-up and rushed to catch up with Ren and Nora after waving goodbye. “I’ll catch you guys later!” 

Once Jaune was gone, Silvio pulled at the red sash around Pyrrha’s waist. “That guy seems like a weenie,” he said in a small voice, making Pyrrha slip off her elbow. 

\---

For the next two hours, Pyrrha had rolled back her sleeves in Cinder's body and went to work on giving Silvio a thorough bath. While Cinder's soul rested in the bath of her mind, Pyrrha scrubbed the child clean of every spec of grime they had acquired in life on the street, something that inevitably led the child's mood to sour. They stood irritably coated in a large bath towel, trying to ignore the overpowering scent of soap wafting in the air around them. Pyrrha had even tried to take a comb to Silvio's wild hair, but as soon as she did, the child complained that it hurt too much. Pyrrha relented and reluctantly redressed the child in an old Pumpkin Pete hoodie that Jaune had left over as well as the child's pants from the night before. 

This wouldn't do. Silvio was going to need some clothes and provisions so long as they stayed with them. 

And so, after reaching back in her mind and pushing Cinder's sleepy soul to the front, Pyrrha had both Cinder and Silvio out the doors to go shopping in the city of Argus. 

"Ugh… I'm awake already," Cinder snarled. She held Silvio's hand to keep the child from speeding off anywhere while she argued with Pyrrha about waking her up. "We could have had Jaune do this, you know?" 

Pyrrha tutted Cinder in her head. "I know it's your day off, but Silvio needs these things as soon as possible. They're necessities." 

"Right…" Cinder tried to form a list in her mind. Clothes, food, blankets… even if Silvio was staying temporarily in their apartment, they were going to need a lot around town. 

"WOAH!" 

Suddenly, Cinder felt herself be pulled towards the right side of the street to look at a broad sign across from the cinema. Silvio giddily pressed against a nearby lamppost to stare at the sign. It was a large painted advertisement for aspiring students to join a school for Huntsmen and Huntresses at Haven. Silvio crunched the snow in their worn boots excitedly. 

"I'm going to be a huntsman," they declared to Cinder, beaming at her. "I'm gonna have a cool weapon and fight all sorts of bad, evil Grimm." 

Cinder only gave the sign a brief look before rolling her eye. "What a waste of time." She shook her head and tugged Silvio along, who resisted her pull. "Why don't you dream of something worthwhile?" 

Silvio gasped, offended. "What?! There's nothing cooler than being a huntsman!" 

Cinder almost laughed. "Put it this way, child. A team of huntsmen couldn't do what I can do in my sleep." 

_"I feel like that is an overestimation_ ," Pyrrha said sharply in her mind. 

Silvio pulled their hand away and huffed. "You're just scared of huntsmen because they hunt your kind!" 

Cinder blinked. "My...kind?" 

"Yeah, cos you're a monster lady!" Silvio exclaimed, throwing their arms up in the air. 

Cinder didn't know if she should even dignify that with a response. If she was being honest, she preferred the Grimm to huntsmen and huntresses anyways. Especially when it came to one huntress in particular… 

She stared ahead at the line of shops, trying to find a general store aimed at goods for children. She needed to get Silvio's measurements and to find some decent warm clothes, lest they be stuck in Jaune's hoodie for the rest of their stay. Cinder's eye drifted to each shop then to the crowd of people ahead to see if any parents were taking their children into specific stores. And for a moment, Cinder started to space out as she watched the crowd. 

What was she staring at? She noticed large shoulders coming into view as well as a long, forest green overcoat. It was a figure that looked so familiar to her. The person was staring into the window of a particular shop at quite a distance from Cinder and when they turned… 

"Hazel?!" Cinder uttered, stopping so abruptly that Silvio bumped into her. 

"What are you looking at?" Silvio snapped. 

Cinder bent down to hush them up but turned back to see that the man who was staring into the shop was now gone. Vanished. Cinder reached up and rubbed her eye. Did she just imagine Hazel Rainart down the street? No… that wouldn't be right. If she saw him, she would be undoubtedly sure and well… 

"Monster Lady," said Silvio, interrupting Cinder's thoughts. "Can we go in here?" They pointed to a rather luxurious shop with many pretty robes and gear in the windows. "It looks really cool!" 

Cinder shrugged. Whatever. The child deserved a little fun. Taking a look at the sign, it seemed this was a shop for combat gear and flexible clothing for huntsmen and huntresses in training. Not really children's material, but maybe they could at least find some decent boots for Silvio. 

Cinder took Silvio inside and let the child go to run around, checking out all the gear they could get their hands on. Carelessly, they knocked over item pouches in their wake and stepped on them to get at a row of batons designed for battle. 

"What are these?!" They shivered, grabbing one to try it out. 

Cinder placed a hand on her hip, slightly entertained. "You hit people with those. They somewhat hurt. But nothing beats a blade, trust me." 

"Ohhhh…" Silvio muttered, a little less impressed with the tool in their hands now. Before Cinder could stop them, they scattered off to look at a pair of shiny, black boots with metal fastenings. 

From the counter, a middle-aged woman shrilly called to Cinder, "Would you mind keeping your child under control?!" 

_"Cinder, please just behave,"_ Pyrrha started. But Cinder barely heard her. 

She snorted at the woman. "Tell you what. I'll tell the child to stop stomping on your goods and you can resign yourself to learning the art of tolerating a paying customer." 

The woman opened her mouth to say something, maybe to suggest Cinder to get out but then shut it and folded her arms irritably. 

"Thank you," Cinder said, a bit sweetly. "I'll make sure they behave. Silvio!" She turned, calling to the child who was now running their hands on the pair of boots. 

Silvio seemed enamoured with the steel-toed boots. "Just think of what I could do with these!" They said to Cinder, grabbing her hand. "I'd be unstoppable!" 

Cinder grinned, scooping the child up. "Would you now? I think it's a bit big for you…" 

Glancing at the new gear on the shelf, Cinder sighed and her mind rolled back to when she was given her first combat outfit. Well… she certainly didn't get to pick random items from a shop like this… 

_ "Ungh!!!!" A swift kick to her stomach sent a seventeen-year-old Cinder flying off her feet and rolling to the ground. A bit of blood escaped her lips and the blow to her torso stung.  _

_ A mad cackle rang out above her while she tried to get back up. Instead Cinder coughed and sputtered, doubling over to hold her stomach. Why did everything hurt? Tyrian had knocked the air from her very lungs.  _

_ The scorpion faunus stood above her, feigning a look of sympathy. Cinder tried so hard, but her agility was next to nothing. Tyrian had successfully countered every strike she performed and delivered back twice the blow. Cinder lied on the floor, stunned and wincing in pain.  _

_ "Oh no… this won't do…" Tyrian said, sound disappointed even with a smile on his face. "Two years and you never get any better…is it laziness? Fatigue?" He laughed again and circled around Cinder, shoving his boot straight into her stomach.  _

_ Cinder screamed, the force sending her bolting upright to spit up more blood. Her aura crackled around her before fading to nothing and leaving her utterly vulnerable.  _

_ "St…Stop it," she hissed at Tyrian. "I've had enough!"  _

_ "For today, yes… but still, I think we underestimate the power of motivation, little girl," Tyrian grinned, his tongue running against his upper lip. Before Cinder could do anything, he snatched away the feathered trinket on her chest.  _

_ "NO!" Cinder cried, reaching for it. Tyrian held it away and the pain in her stomach kept Cinder from rising up. "DON'T TOUCH IT!"  _

_ Tyrian laughed hysterically, thumbing through the various feathers of the trinket. "Oh? You don't want me to play with this?" He held it out to Cinder's face to taunt her but easily snagged it away before Cinder could wince and reach for it. "Then why don't you stop me, Cinder?"  _

_ He stifled another crazed giggle and pinched one of the bigger feathers in between his fingers. "So pretty…" He muttered. Then with a sharp tug, he ripped the feather straight off the trinket, eliciting a horrified scream from the girl on the floor.  _

_ "NO!!!!" shrieked Cinder.  _

_ Tyrian let the feather fall to the ground and he slammed his filthy boot down on the feather, letting Cinder's cries of misery fuel him to continue stomping on it. Cinder dove for the battered feather and Tyrian jumped back, letting her reach it.  _

_ Cinder cupped the broken feather in her hands, anger and fury boiling inside of her. Her face was twisted, distraught. "You… You son of a…"  _

_ "Cinder, dear," simpered Tyrian mockingly. "Do you know why bad things happen to you?" He knelt down beside Cinder, pressing his chest to her back. He gripped her shoulders, resting his head right beside her ear. "I'll tell you why."  _

_ Tyrian leaned in to whisper to her. "It is because you make it so easy," he said. "If you can't stop me from hurting you, little girl, then it's all your fault."  _

_ Cinder tried to hold back a sob. She wanted to tear Tyrian apart. Her hands were shaking with the feather in them, clutched to her chest. But she couldn't. She wasn't strong enough and Tyrian was too fast.  _

_ After a moment of silence, Tyrian spoke with a note of pity in his voice. "Ohhhh. You think I hate you, don't you, Cinder? It's not true…" His thumb caught the slightest tear sliding down Cinder's cheek. "I actually quite like you...all this pain and suffering you feel will be for our Goddess!" _

_ His fingers sifted through Cinder's hair, wrenching her head back. "And honestly… what could be more beautiful?" Cinder froze, feeling the lashes of Tyrian's eyes tease the back of her neck. His hot breath coated the top of her shoulder as he held her, breathing her scent in as far as Cinder could tell.  _

_ Cinder felt sick and daringly shoved Tyrian off. If she could, she would have thrown him across the room, but he merely laughed again and balanced his weight on his tail. Cinder jumped to her feet, ignoring her pain and clutching her damaged trinket to her chest as she marched off from the training hall.  _

_ \-- _

_ Cinder didn't bother going to look for dinner that night in Evernight Castle. Her entire body was sore from Tyrian's work and she was feeling too thoroughly ashamed for either Hazel or Watts to see her face. So she took the winding stairs back up to her room. She'd clean the blood off her clothes for the rest of the night and keep to herself.  _

_ Or so she thought.  _

_ When she opened the double doors to her room, she was greeted by Salem by her windowsill, brushing a curtain aside with her hand. When she turned her head to Cinder, the young girl stiffened. What was Salem doing here? She hardly left her chambers aside from giving general orders to her subordinates or to occasionally oversee Cinder's training. Cinder's stomach lurched uncomfortably. Was this about her abysmal performance that day against Tyrian?  _

_ She stood at the door, not wanting to enter so long as the pale woman was present in her room.  _

_ "There you are," Salem said calmly. Her red orbs narrowed at Cinder and Cinder wondered if she could see a slight smile on her cold lips. "I've been waiting for you. I was certain that I always have you return to your room by this time, Cinder."  _

_ Cinder hung her head. "I was just… just walking around the castle."  _

_ Salem gestured for Cinder to enter her room and join her by the window. As Cinder did, she noticed that Salem was holding something red and folded neatly to her chest. An outfit? _

_ Cinder stood beside her Master and Salem went on, "That is understandable. I do not think it is a bad thing to wander, but I do recall the last time you got lost on your own around here."  _

_ Cinder did too. She never really got used to the nest of Nevermores that lived underneath her window and it had been a bad idea to try and chase them away.  _

_ Salem's eyes glowed over Cinder and she placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I've been hearing that you're performing worse in your training. This is not acceptable, Cinder. I didn't bring you here to falter in your efforts."  _

_ "I'm not-!" Cinder couldn't help but to spit out. She wasn't… she was trying her hardest… wasn't she?  _

_ Her Master ignored her. "That is why I wanted to give you this," said Salem, laying out the outfit in her arms on Cinder's large bed. Spread out, Cinder could see that it was a highly decorative red dress with a pair of dark shorts and gold lining. On the floor below, a set of new heels were placed side by side. Cinder stared at the outfit, flushing a bit.  _

_ Almost a bit timidly, she reached out and touched the cuff of the dress sleeve. She could feel the rich and strong fabric between her fingertips, shuddering softly. This outfit was probably one of the most luxurious that Cinder had ever seen outside of Atlesian culture.  _

_ "I don't understand. If I'm doing so poorly, why reward me with this?" Cinder asked, stepping away from the outfit.  _

_ "This isn't a reward," said Salem frankly. "It is what I would like to call motivation." She took a step toward Cinder, smoothing her short black locks out of her face. "How can you fight at your best when you feel less than that?"  _

_ Cinder didn't answer. She lowered her head and averted her gaze from Salem, trying to hide the furious blush rising to her cheeks. After two years of being here, she hadn't ever experienced this concern from Salem. Did she like it? Or was she just embarrassed?  _

_ Salem ran her fingers through Cinder's uneven hair. "You barely take care of yourself outside of training. I won't tolerate this." After letting Cinder look over the dress, she led Cinder to the bed and sat her down. She rose up, selected a brush from a vanity table in Cinder's room, and returned to start brushing her messy hair.  _

_ "I expect you to start taking better care of yourself, Cinder. And if I must show you how, I will…"  _

A loud blast in the air shook Cinder from her memories. Silvio cried out in her ear and she whirled around to see a band of men filing into the store. In each of their hands was a firearm now pointed at the various civilians in their way. The woman at the counter cowered back against the wall as the blast collided with some merchandise rack beside her. 

The leader of the gang of men, dressed in all white sauntered right up with a wild smirk on his face as the other people ushered out of his way. "Dust. Now." He dropped a large storage vat before the trembling woman. 

The woman was shaking, but she nodded, turning to her display of dust and pure crystals. 

Cinder groaned, counting all of the men quickly. About six to seven of them. This could get rough with Silvio here. And any of them could spot her if she tried to move them. 

"Silvio...in a moment, I'm going to put you down. You need to stay out of sight," she hissed to him. They were still two aisles away from the men and their gang leader so it may be safe enough not to be heard. 

Silvio shook their head, burying into Cinder's chest and clinging to her. "I'm scared," they whispered back. 

"I know. You need to trust me. I'm not a huntress. I'm better." Cinder insisted, taking another step back as she felt a man was drawing near. "I'll take them out and make them go away-" 

"YAHHHOOOOOOO!!!" Cried out an all too familiar cheery voice. Cinder could even hear the click of a retractable scythe swing out and before she knew it, a crimson blur shot out in front of the robbers. And right behind it from the doorway, Oscar Pine was knocking several men aside with his cane. 

Ruby Rose shot straight at the gang leader, sweeping her legs out from under him with her trademark scythe and landing on top of his chest. She pinned him down with her boots and effortlessly whipped back her now long dark hair. 

Cinder nearly dropped the child in her arm. "Ruby?!" She exclaimed. What was she doing here?!

"Hm…?" Ruby turned in Cinder's direction, noticing her past the shelves. "Cinder!!!!!" She jammed her arm up in the air and waved frantically trying to get her attention. "Cinder! Cinder! Over here! I'm over here!" 

Ruby kept calling out for Cinder as though the Fall Maiden hadn't yet realized she was there. "Oh, for the love of the Brothers," Cinder muttered, bending her head. 

"Do you know that cool huntress lady?" Silvio asked. 

"Cool huntress lady-?!" 

Cinder was about to be scandalized when the gang leader groaned and pulled a rod from his waist. He stabbed it into Ruby's chest, sending the young huntress flying straight of him. 

"Ruby!!!" Fire burst from Cinder's right eye. Black glass formed and molded to her fingertips and lengthened into a shimmering onyx sword. She charged at the man with full force, jabbing the end of her sword into his gut to knock him straight into the opposite wall. A shelf from above crashed down, but the man caught his bearings just in time to hop out of the way. 

Cinder stood, poised with her sword, as Ruby shot back to her side with her scythe aiming forward. 

"Long time, no see, Cinder!" She said, rather brightly. 

Cinder scoffed as various men crowded around them. "Shut up and fight." 

"Just watch me," said Ruby, driving her scythe forward as Cinder lunged with her blade. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. This story is gonna be a bit bigger than I initially expected. ^^


	5. Lowest of the Low

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Sorry for how late this chapter is. But enjoy Cinder's torment.

"Ugh!!!" Cinder thrust her sword forward to block an incoming strike from the leader's shock baton. She gritted her teeth, driving her foot into the floor to hold herself steady. A bead of sweat trickled down her forehead. She had to concentrate, to focus on what would be the best moment to use her Maiden Powers and drive the man and his gang of burglars back-

"So how have you been, Cinder?" Ruby chirped, sailing right up beside her to slam the butt of her scythe into another gang member's stomach. The other man wailed and was sent flying back. "I haven't seen you in a few months." 

The leader growled and drew his baton back. "Get out of my way, you stupid bit-" Aiming to jab his weapon in Cinder's exposed, arm-less end, he slashed at her with its electricity on high. 

"...!!!" Cinder tensed, readying her aura to take the jolt if it meant grabbing this fool by the face and showing him what happened when one messed with the Protector of Argus. But that never happened. Instead, Ruby seized her hand and tugged her straight against her chest to narrowly dodge the blow. 

"Ruby-!" 

It was all in the course of two seconds. Ruby pulled her close and soon, the two girls were deliriously spinning in a twist of crimson and black roses. They zoomed across the shop and circled behind the shelf where Silvio was told to hide, showering their path in rose petals. 

Cinder stumbled out Ruby's semblance, feeling quite dazed. But she straightened up against the shelf when she saw the glint of Silvio's hair. The child immediately ran towards her and hugged her legs. 

"Who's this?" Ruby asked eagerly, adjusting the bullets in Crescent Rose. Her eyes were already shining at Silvio. 

Cinder dusted herself off. "Silvio. And I told them to hide!" 

"I am hiding!" Silvio spouted back, pouting. "But I was scared! That man was gonna stab you and-!" 

Ruby twirled her scythe and grinned, patting the child on their frizzy head. "Don't worry. Your mommy and I have each other's backs!" 

Cinder almost looked flabbergasted at the sentiment. "Ruby, I am not-!" 

Suddenly, Ruby shoved both Cinder and Silvio out of the way of stray bullets flying straight at them. Silvio squealed and ducked to cover their head. 

Cinder seethed, urging Silvio behind a further shelf to the back. "Stay. Here! If I see you leave this spot, I will…" The thought occurred to Cinder to say that she would injure the child herself, but she pushed that rage down as soon as she felt Pyrrha's inward gaze coldly reflect over her soul. "Just stay here!!!" 

Ruby had already shot back at the gang member who had fired at them, using her scythe to drive him straight into the wall. 

Silvio nodded to Cinder and bent behind the shelf, covering their head. Cinder drew a breath and turned her head to see the leader of the gang slowly approaching her while she had her back to him. 

"Your timing really is the worst," Cinder said to him, forming her blade back in her hand. "Imagine bothering people with some imbecile dust robbery on a nice day like this. That's you." 

The gang leader simply stared at her as though he were trying to figure something out. He stared at the scar that split her face, then flicked his eyes to the lost arm on her left side. 

Over the last two years, Pyrrha's influence had made Cinder a somewhat… sporting fighter. Even when defending the citizens of Argus from foolish men like this, Cinder didn't feel a need to flaunt so much power to disarm them. Of course, with what she had done two years ago with her acquired power, she didn't feel like the person she was anymore. That was to say, lording her powers over others would never feel the same. 

However, she was beginning to get a bit impatient. The leader looked nowhere near quitting but he wasn't attacking her either. And with a child in her care just a few feet away, Cinder was starting to tap her left foot in annoyance. 

"Do I need to ask you to surrender yourself to the police or will you figure that out like a smart, little boy-" 

The leader cut her off, his blue-green eyes softening in realization. "You're Cinder Fall," he said, almost breathlessly. He lowered his weapon and stared at Cinder like she was the next coming of the Two Brothers. 

Cinder regarded him strangely. "If I am?" 

The leader shook his head, a few nervous chuckles leaving his lips. "The-Then I don't get it!" He threw his arms (weapon included) back into the air. "You were so… so legendary! I heard about you in every circle of thieves and con artists I ever ran with! Everyone told me about you and the work you did with Roman Torchwick!" 

If the name "Roman Torchwick" bothered Cinder, she tried not to show it in her face. Even Pyrrha would be aware of the level of guilt coursing through her right now. 

The leader continued. "There were so many stories. Stories about you bending and reshaping this world to your liking. All of the great things you did. So great and so terrible. Every man I knew said they would leave their wives for you!" 

Cinder was starting to feel a bit sickened. "So you're a fanboy?" 

The leader snorted, almost eyeing her with renewed disgust. "I… never saw the hype to be honest. It sounded like you were very pretty. A goddess to the lowest of the low." He gave her a once-over and nearly chuckled again. But it was a more confident laugh. "But now… wow…" 

Cinder's guilt was immediately replaced by shame filtering through her. Her knuckles were sheet white as her hand gripped her sword. Two years ago, she would have made him suffer for that, but now… 

_"Cinder…"_ Pyrrha whispered in her ear, her tone loving and gentle. _"I can take over. You don't have to-"_

"No!" Cinder spat shrilly. "I'm staying in control!" She jerked her head back to the criminal. "I'm sorry I'm just full of disappointment, but where would I be if I lived my life according to the standards of thugs like you?!" 

The leader frowned, raising his baton. "You were a thug too. Just because you  _ were  _ beautiful doesn't mean you're above me!" 

Cinder stiffened again, his words running deep like a wound to her chest. She didn't even notice the sudden chill wafting around the room. Not until a piece of clear ice formed around her fingers that gripped her sword. 

_"Cinder!"_ Pyrrha shouted in her mind, snapping her out of her shame and rage. 

Cinder gasped, glancing down to notice sheets of solid ice forming at her arm and working their way up. But how?! No spec of dust had touched her! Cinder immediately drew back, searching around for what could have struck her arm. 

Pyrrha seemed to get it first. _"His aura… Cinder, his aura!"_

And then Cinder could see it too. Looking at the leader, his bluish-green aura was forming an entire atmosphere from his body and now it drifted towards her like a wave. 

The leader smirked. "Thanks for talking so much, babe. It always takes me a while to actually work on freezing my targets, so I don't try to rely on my Semblance that much." He aimed his baton at her torso, taking another step towards her. His aura followed and Cinder soon found her foot also catching ice forming on her boot. "But you know… since you are Cinder Fall and all...I wanna make this perfect." 

_"Cinder...I think I should really take over!"_ Pyrrha said once more. Cinder could feel her other half yank her soul as if to drive her back. 

But Cinder did not care one bit. She was still quaking in rage. That this man criticized her looks, her power, and actually managed to freeze her… what was wrong with her?! She never would have let this slide two years ago. Was… was she weaker now? Why wasn't this over? 

The leader eyed her up and down once more and then drew in an excited breath. "Let's get rid of that other arm of yours, hm? Wait till everyone hears how I maimed and killed Cinder Fall!" He raised his shock baton gleefully, expanding his aura tenfold. Ice caught Cinder's leg, wrapping up her thigh immediately. 

Cinder could hear Pyrrha's shrieks in her ears. Calls to move away and let her take over. Cinder ignored her and instead trained her eye on the man before her. Strangely enough as the baton neared her arm, she heard Tyrian's voice echo through her mind. 

_ "Do you know why bad things happen to you? I'll tell you why. It is because you make it so easy."  _

And Tyrian was right. If Cinder was so weak in this thug's eyes, it was because she made herself that way. She did this to herself-

Before the electricity of the baton could connect with her arm, the leader suddenly let out a large wail of pain. Cinder's eye shot upwards to see that a small, childish figure had leaped from the top of the shelf and smashed a metallic armor plate over the thug's head. 

"S-Silvio!!!" Cinder cried out, flame immediately flickering from her right eye. The child had struck the leader with the plate to distract him, tumbling over on their side as soon as they fell. 

"RUN, MONSTER LADY!" Silvio yelled, holding their side. 

The thug gave another howl of pain as blood trickled from their mop of brown hair. He spat a few curses and turned on Silvio, driving his foot into their stomach. 

"NO-!" The ice shattered around Cinder's aura in an instant, just as Silvio crashed into the shelf from the impact. The child slid down the shelf and groaned, not moving anymore. 

Cinder's chest rose and fell rapidly. She stepped on the ice like it was nothing and towered over the leader of the gang. "You…" 

"How… how did…" The leader stumbled over his words, glancing up at her. "Flames… your eyes… what are you?!" 

He was met by a boot striking him straight in the face in response. Cinder then seized his chest with her only arm and slammed him against the wall, pinning him there with her blade nuzzling his neck. Every fiber of her being wanted to press on the blade and spill some blood, but she held back. Instead, she drove her knee into the leader's torso twice. 

The leader sputtered and whined against her, trying to grab her wrist and throw her off. Each time he attempted, Cinder tightened her grip and aimed her kick lower and lower. Eventually the leader coughed out his first bit of blood and slumped over, trying to breathe. When he glanced up, Cinder could feel his chest seize at the sight before him. 

"Do you get it?!" Cinder had stepped back, using her fingers to part the fringe. There, the leader gazed upon all of her pinkish, raw scars across her face and of course, the lack of the eye. "DO YOU?!" 

The thug tried to speak, tried to get one word out, but one glare from Cinder's eye shut him up fast. 

"You want to mock me for all I've lost to gain power?! Well take a good look! This is where you are heading too!" Cinder coldly said, slamming her arm into the wall and making the man jump again. His body was shaking. "And you want to know the worst part?! I'LL NEVER BE SATISFIED!" 

For good measure, she slammed her arm into the wall just two inches from his face with a blazing fist that was coated in flames. The man shrieked in terror and covered his face in his arms. 

Cinder narrowed her eye at him, at his display of fear. For a moment, she tried to derive some pleasure from his cowardice, but… there was nothing. As she said… she would never be satisfied. 

"Cinder," a small voice said behind her, snapping her from her thoughts. Cinder turned back to see Ruby standing there. It appeared all the other burglars had been rounded up and the store was empty. Empty, except for herself, the leader, Ruby, and the child who had taken a hit for her. 

Cinder stared at those soft, silvery eyes and felt her anger start to ebb away into something else. More shame? She didn't know. But still…

She turned back to the thug and shook her head. "Go turn yourself in," she told him, her voice considerably quieter. "Repay your debt to society, then do something better with your life." She held back a sigh and stepped away from the leader, allowing him to get up and scamper towards the authorities awaiting outside. 

Cinder watched him go and be grabbed by the police before turning back to Ruby. "I think I'm having a bad day." 

\--

Once the robbery had been settled, people crowded around Ruby and Oscar to thank them for their assistance. Oscar had worked hard to keep everyone at this scene safe and away from danger and Ruby made short work of all the thugs inside. Cinder and Silvio sat on a bench across the street, watching the huntress bashfully greet her fans and admirers. 

"Does it hurt anywhere?" Cinder asked, smoothing Silvio's hair back. 

Silvio shook their head. "Just my stomach, but I think I'm just a little hungry." They patted their stomach for good measure and slumped back against Cinder. 

Cinder rubbed her temples before setting her arm around the child. "I told you to hide." 

"Yeah… but that guy was gonna stab you with that thing he had," said Silvio carelessly. 

Well… Cinder would give the reckless child one thing. "You were pretty impressive. Climbing over a shelf like that and striking him over the head." She paused and gave them a small grin. "If you want to be a huntsman or huntress or whatever, I think you're on your way." 

Silvio perked up. "Really?!" 

Cinder shrugged, preferring not to answer. Can't have the child too overexcited. 

_"Oh, come on,"_ Pyrrha snorted at her from within. _"They saved you."_

Cinder rolled her eye. "Ultimately, I would have been fine. It was more reckless than anything." She tapped Silvio's shoulders. "Next time, you should think about your opponent's next move."

Silvio groaned. "But I saved you!" 

"And that man could have done something so much worse to you in the process," said Cinder, giving Silvio's nose a flick. "Saving me would have meant very little if you wound up dead." 

Pyrrha nearly scoffed inside of her mind. _"Cinder, they're six,"_ she said, before her tone swelled with slight glee. _"A little protective, aren't you?"_

Cinder's eye widened and she sat straight up, trying to mask the offense on her face. "Oh, please… just trying to instruct them if they aim to be a huntsman…" 

_"Just like any real parent would…"_ Pyrrha purred until Cinder inwardly cringed at the thought. 

Silvio pulled on Cinder's sleeve and brought her attention to Ruby and Oscar standing in front of their bench. "Oh, it's you two-" Cinder started but Silvio cut her off. 

"You're that huntress!!!" Silvio burst out, jumping off the bench to greet and run around Ruby. "You were so cool! You were sweeping those guys left and right with your scythe!" 

"Well…" Ruby said, going a bit red. 

Oscar grinned at the small child, placing his hands behind his back. "All in a day's work, right, Ruby?" 

"

Cinder grumbled, "And I saved them from the leader, but you know… whatever…" Pyrrha gave another chuckle. In the back of her mind however, Cinder knew this wasn't over. 

She and her other half were going to be talking that night about everything… and Jaune would probably have to be brought in as well. Cinder would assure them that none of this was the beginnings of regression or a breakdown… but even she was unsure of that. This day… this day had been rough. 

So, for the time-being, Cinder contentedly watched Silvio dance around Ruby and Oscar, asking for an autograph. 

"It will have to be in a bit," Ruby said shyly. Clearly the famous, silver-eyed warrior wasn't used to the fame just yet. "I don't have anything to sign." She reached back to rub her hair and nodded at Cinder. "Thanks for your help." 

Cinder swept her leg over the opposite knee. "Thanks for coming. I still have to get this little one's groceries, so if you don't mind-" 

Ruby spoke over her. "I came here to find you actually," she said. "Oscar told me that you were still in Argus. So…" She leaned in closer. 

Her words were unmistakable. "Cinder, I want to talk about the Relic of Choice." 

Cinder blinked, then appeared considerate for a moment. She glanced to Silvio, then to Oscar. "Silvio, go play with the Farm Boy for a moment." 

Silvio looked up at her. "Is everything okay, Monster Lady?" The air had gone quiet all of a sudden. 

Cinder nodded and offered them a reassuring smirk. "Of course. Go practice huntsman stuff with Oscar…" 

"Huntsman stuff?" Oscar raised his eyebrows. 

Cinder tapped her chin. "You're right, Farm Boy. Silvio will be needing a weapon to compete with your cane." Within a second, she formed a solid, obsidian bat and handed it to a very, very giddy Silvio. "First lesson, aim for the weak spot. Go for the Farm Boy's legs, Silvio. He has a tendency to run away from fights and we can't have that." 

"Yes!" Silvio squealed, testing the bat out excitedly by hitting it against the ground. 

Oscar looked appalled and hesitant. "Uh… C-Cinder, you aren't serious-?!" 

Cinder shrugged and waved him off. "Better protect your legs. Now Silvio, go over there and show the Farm Boy what you got." 

Silvio gripped their bat and immediately jumped at Oscar, who skittishly darted back. "Hey," he squawked at the child, "I didn't say we were starting yet!" 

\--

It was an odd sight to see: a young and very cheerful huntress lying against a tall woman for support. Even Cinder had to admit that defeating Salem together and Pyrrha's influence had brought her and Ruby together. It seemed the simplest souls were also the ones most capable of forgiveness. 

"I've been traveling a lot," Ruby said with a yawn. "I really thought I'd have just… so much more energy, y'know?" 

"You seem fine to me," Cinder said with a snort. 

Ruby smiled, watching Silvio chase Oscar down. "And you seem like a den mother. What happened?" 

"Child had no parents, so Jaune and I are looking after them." 

"And you're adopting them?!" Ruby gasped excitedly. 

Cinder waved her off. "Of course not. This is just until we can find a proper foster home." She watched Silvio take a dive for Oscar's legs, only for Oscar to jump back again. He really was a little worm when it came to fighting. "So… the Relic of Choice… what do you need to know?" 

Ruby shook her head, then seemingly perked up again. "Oh, oh, ohhh! Wait! First of all, I have something to give you," she said, fishing around in her pockets. 

Cinder waited and tapped her foot impatiently while Ruby searched around and eventually, she procured a single, golden envelope. She carefully opened it and brought out a piece of beautifully pressed card stock with a lovely silver and green font scrawled across the top. 

"Here you go," said Ruby cheerfully, handing the card to Cinder. "I almost forgot about this." 

Cinder already had a bad feeling just looking at the color of the font. And she was right to be concerned. It was an invitation. 

_ "Cinder Fall, you are hereby invited to the wedding of Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai. We look forward to seeing-"  _

And Cinder did not want to read any further. Before her instincts took over, she felt Pyrrha jam her way through and take over her body. A light glow eclipsed her form and Pyrrha was in charge now, tossing the invitation back to Ruby. 

_"Better hurry,"_ Pyrrha said quickly. _"Cinder's first instinct was to burn it."_

Ruby almost laughed, tucking the invitation away. "No problem! I already passed one on to Jaune in the mail anyways. Hi, Pyrrha!" 

Pyrrha gave a hearty wave to Ruby before another soft glow overtook her and Cinder was back, looking very sore. 

"And hi, Cinder," said Ruby, leaning over Cinder as she sulked. "I'm still not used to that." 

"I. Am. Not going. To. Their. Wedding," Cinder responded through her teeth. 

Ruby tilted her head. "Why not?" She pushed the invitation back on Cinder again. "Look, it says here they really want you to come. And here, they're saying they want to know how you've been and...here! Look! Here they say that it would make them happy for you to witness this new chapter in their lives." She gave an almost romantic sigh. 

With Cinder, every word just felt worse and worse. How could Emerald and Mercury want to see her? The guilt was unbearable inside of her and Pyrrha was already whispering at her to face it and go to the wedding. If only it were that easy… Emerald and Mercury were not Penny. Asking for their forgiveness… somehow Cinder would never feel like she had the right. 

"Then don't ask them for forgiveness," Pyrrha urged. "But you need to face this. The last time you saw them, you really hurt them-" 

"You think I don't know that?!" Cinder nearly squawked, putting her hand to her chest. Her heart had begun to pound and her only hand seemed a bit sweaty. "I can't… I won't go to their wedding." 

"Oh, so you're scared," Ruby suddenly chimed in. Cinder sat up immediately. "Well, I guess I found one thing to defeat the infamous Cinder Fall!" 

Cinder growled. "What did you just say?! I am not afraid! This is just… just complicated." 

Ruby giggled and pressed one soft finger on Cinder's nose. "Wow, look at those excuses! Ahehehe," she said, putting on a mean, sullen look. "I'm Cinder Fall. I'm so bad and fiery… but weddings are scary!" 

"Ruby-!" 

Before Cinder could get too insulted, Ruby leaned forward on the bench. "We could go together. I've been invited too." She shrugged. "If you're scared, I understand." 

Cinder flushed. "...No, that's alright." She huffed. "I'll go… I just… I can't understand why they want to see me." 

As far as she was concerned, she was never going to forgive herself for how she treated Emerald and Mercury. It felt like these last years were a large guilt trip when Jaune and Pyrrha started teaching her to shed her former behaviors. With each new step she took towards "healing", the more her mind would drift back to her formed subordinates… and how she chose Salem over them and made it clear it would  _ always _ be Salem. 

As Cinder leaned forward to watch for Oscar and Silvio, Ruby rubbed her back and gave her a supporting smile. In the distance, they saw that Oscar had given up trying to defend himself from Silvio's strikes. Instead, he proclaimed that Silvio had won and done a good job and that he would buy the child a treat for winning. 

Silvio and Oscar were just coming back to the field with toasted waffles in their hands when Cinder glanced back at Ruby. 

"So, what about the Relic of Choice?" 

Ruby nodded to her. "Jaune told me you were having some rough times lately. Nightmares. I just want to know if you feel safe… that you don't feel you need to use your power again-" 

"I…" Cinder suddenly sputtered, her heart hammering in her chest. A flash of Salem's resting face sank into her mind's eye. "No…" 

Ruby leaned against Cinder and rubbed her back again. "Cinder, I know it's bad," she said, her voice taking on a serious tone. "I know I shouldn't doubt you, but when you combined with the Relic, you took on a power even Ozpin couldn't foresee." 

"Combine nothing," Cinder laughed nervously, pushing her fringe from her eye. "I am the Relic of Choice. And I can promise you that I will never have an urge to use my powers again. Not after what I did to Salem." 

There was a moment of silence between them. Cinder didn't know why she felt so emotional. Combining with the Relic had become no easy task. It was the power Cinder had longed for her entire life and ironically, she never wanted to use it again after the first time. The Relic of Choice was used to make someone else's choice and every night, Cinder revisited that moment in her dreams. 

The night she used her power on Salem herself and forced Salem to fall into an eternal sleep. Salem had fallen into her arms, all the fear and emotion in the immortal being's face slowly fading as Cinder held her. Salem had begged her not to do it. It was something Cinder never thought she would hear. Her last words shattered Cinder's soul as she gave the Relic of Choice's command for Salem to be put to rest. 

_ "Please don't, Cinder."  _

Cinder hadn't noticed that she was breathing roughly until Ruby pulled her close into a tight embrace. 

"Just promise me you'll never go back to Salem," Ruby uttered softly, squeezing her tight. "Promise me! No matter how scared you are… please just come to Jaune, Oscar and me first." 

Cinder shuddered, her heart sinking. "I'm not scared of anything. And I won't go back. I don't want to see Evernight Castle again." Gently, she pushed Ruby away. 

Ruby nodded again silently, giving her a smile that made Cinder's anxiety slow a bit. She leaned against Cinder again, watching Oscar and Silvio return. Silvio was on top of Oscar's shoulders, nibbling happily on a cinnamon waffle. 

"They're pretty good at fighting," Oscar said with a light laugh. He took Silvio's hand and shook it before lifting the child off his shoulders and giving them back to Cinder. 

Cinder opened her arm to take Silvio as they wrapped their arms sleepily around her neck. "You can't be getting tired," she said to them. "We still need to get your clothing and supplies." 

Silvio pouted and swallowed a mouthful of waffle. "No! I'm gonna stay up all night! I'm a great fighter!" They jabbed their finger at Oscar. "I already beat him anyways!"

Cinder scoffed. "Oh please, that's no big feat. I can defeat Farm Boy without my arm." 

"Hey, now…" Oscar said, rubbing his head. 

Ruby snickered. "Cinder… are you competing against your own kid?" 

Cinder paled and jerked her head up in the hair. "Of course not! I'm just trying to teach them--and they are not my kid!" She spat back at Ruby among her and Oscar's teasing laughter. 

\---

After some walking with Ruby and fetching groceries here and there with Oscar's advice on what kind of healthy food a child would need, Cinder eventually parted ways with Ruby and her boyfriend. She gave Oscar a fond pinch on his freckled cheeks until Oscar smacked her hand away and shook Ruby's hand before Ruby tugged her in for another hug. 

"I'll be staying in town for a bit since I wanna prep for Emerald and Mercury's wedding," Ruby said, giving Cinder a wave. 

Cinder would wave back if not for the groceries in her arm. Silvio instead avidly waved for her. "...Maybe we will go together," Cinder said with the corners of her mouth lifting to a smile. 

Ruby gasped happily and tugged on Oscar's sleeve. "It can be a party. You and me. Oscar and Jaune!" 

"Let's not get too ahead of ourselves," Cinder said quickly. "And what is Pyrrha? A third wheel?" She rolled her shoulders back. "Heh. Watch everyone at that wedding get jealous that you're all going to be my dates." 

_"Oh, I'm so sure you're looking forward to showing Emerald up on her special day,"_ Pyrrha teased. Cinder elected to ignore her. 

"Please take care, Miss Fall," said Oscar, bowing his head politely. 

"Such honor," Cinder mocked. "You may now call me Cinder, Farm Boy. Whenever you wish." 

"I prefer Miss Fall," Oscar said, a shy note in his voice. "Good luck with Silvio!" 

He turned away with Ruby and with a last wave from the both of them, they disappeared into the hustle and bustle of Argus. 

Silvio latched back onto Cinder's leg and yawned. "Are we done yet? We walked forever!" 

"And yet, I'm the one carrying all your supplies," Cinder grumbled, turning around. "And no, we still need to find you a blanket. I want one that heats up on its own." 

"Why?" 

"Because Argus nights get really cold and I don't want you waking me up in the middle of the night for it." Cinder started her walk down the row of shops with Silvio following in tow. 

Pyrrha smiled inside of her head. _"Now that's a bit more compassionate of you, Cinder."_

Cinder ignored her again. It had been such a long day. "Let's see… I know I've seen one of those blankets advertised on TV." She stared into the windows of some shops. 

"Can we do dinner? My stomach's gurgling," Silvio complained, tugging the sash on Cinder's outfit. 

"Soon, okay?" Cinder said, trying to peer at the shop's wares. "Just give me another half an hour. Then I'll drag Jaune back to cook for us if it kills me." If she were being honest, her stomach was growling too. 

Suddenly Silvio's whines stopped and Cinder was allowed to window shop in peace for a few blissful moments. Just as she was sure she could spot a good sale in the store, Silvio tugged on her sash again. 

"Yes?" Cinder remarked irritably, still looking towards the shop door. 

"Monster Lady, do you know that weird man staring at us?" 

"Weird man?" 

A sudden chill went down Cinder's back. Even without looking, she could feel another's eyes on her as soon as Silvio drew attention to it. She considered making a weapon then and there, but Pyrrha whispered to her and reminded her not to cause a panic. Instead, Cinder slowly turned around. 

And she didn't think anything in the world could have prepared her for the person who stood before her. 

"Hazel?!" 

The name left her lips in a soft gasp and the grocery bags dropped straight out of her arm. 

It was Hazel. His large form towered over Cinder and Silvio, so much so that Cinder took a step back until her back was to the shop window. 

Again… "H...Hazel…" She breathed. Silvio stayed close to her, hugging Cinder's leg. It was easy to be intimidated by Hazel's sheer mass, where Silvio was about as tall as the man's calf. 

Hazel's eyes stared at Cinder, taking her in. He looked to her face, then to her missing arm and lingered there for a few moments of awkward silence. Finally, he glanced at Silvio and spoke. 

"I didn't know you had a child. It's been a long time, Cinder." Then he took Cinder's hand within his own. 

And it took everything in Cinder's power to not flinch and jerk it away...

  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> AN: Thanks for reading. This is my first fic in a long while, so I hope it provides some entertainment. I made it for KnightFall/Arkos on Fire blog on tumblr. <3


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